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EHAM QTH QRZ ARRL HRO ICOM KENWOOD YAESU ELBO ROOM
FRIDAY EDITION: Fall is here, I have one truckload of leaves for the dump today. I do the leaves as they come down, it makes things a lot easier, we have a 170 foot long tree lined driveway of beech and oak trees. Aurora was beautiful to see last night and had a definite effect on signals on 75 last night, spooky.... A Wisconsinite Heads into Milton’s Path on PurposeMADISON, Wis. (CIVIC MEDIA) – A local is in Florida preparing now to help with hurricane Milton relief, and he’s brought crucial communication tools with him. A Wisconsinite hit the road ahead of Milton’s landfall and made his way to Tampa, Florida. He’s there now helping with a unique and essential need… communication. As cell phone coverage goes out, it can be days to even a week before your family or loved ones even know if you are dead or alive. “What I’m offering is communications to talk to the outside world.” Dan Vanevenhoven is a volunteer with Amateur Radio Emergency Services, he lives in the Fox Valley area and a former Tampa Bay area resident. STORY Perkins retires emergency coordinator postAllen Perkins, N1ATS, has retired from his position as Cumberland County amateur radio emergency coordinator. A member of the Cumberland Plateau Amateur Radio Club, Perkins stepped into the post several years ago. He has also served as assistant emergency coordinator for 13 counties in District 6. "Through the years, I have been the direct contact with the amateurs that are set up at the National Weather Service to relay actual and current weather to them from our county," he said. "I have used a map of the county that has been squared off in quadrants so as to locate very close to any possible situations that needed emergency assistance. We have club members throughout the county in those squares that can relay actual and current severe weather at the time of occurrence." Perkins added, "This has been my calling and I regret that I am stepping down as EC, but I will let the person that takes my place that I will still be available if needed and will still be net control for severe weather." Perkins and his wife, Sandy, moved to Cumberland County in January 2009, months after he retired from Irving Oil LLC of Canada and USA. A former assistant emergency coordinator in Cumberland County, ME, he said part of his retirement plans was to devote time to his beloved hobby of amateur — or ham — radio. "After a few months here I was advised that many amateurs would meet at the Dairy Queen Monday-Friday in the morning for a chat session," he said. "It was there I met Wayne Alley K4MGE. He was at the time the EC for the county and after our friendship bloomed, he asked me if I would like to accept a passion as AEC for the county. Being involved in law enforcement many years ago and 33 years' military experience, I accepted his invitation." Perkins remembers Alley was well known and respected at the county Emergency Management Agency office. He introduced Perkins to Keith Garrison, then EMA director, who Perkins describes as down to earth and dedicated to his position and Cumberland County. Working with Garrison, he transmitted to the National Traffic Service, the nation's information center for amateur radio. When Garrison retired, Perkins continued his work with EMA and Garrison's successor, Rick Smith. W3USR Ham Radio Station Dedication Oct. 25 (Pennsylvania)The University of Scranton will dedicate a state-of-the-art amateur radio station that serves students in the University’s W3USR Amateur Radio Club and is also used for physics courses and research by students and faculty participating with the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) project led by Nathaniel Frissell, Ph.D., associate professor of physics and engineering at Scranton. Research conducted using the facility has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, the Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) foundation and other organizations. Located on the fifth floor of the Loyola Science Center, the main station has floor to ceiling glass walls with sweeping views of the city of Scranton. Last academic year, a 40-foot tower with a Skyhawk High Frequency antenna for 14, 21, and 28 MHz, as well as VHF/UHF satellite and microwave antennas, some with rotating mounts were installed, in addition to heavy-duty controllers, all-mode transceivers, speakers, desktop microphones and other components. Read more – https://bit.ly/3Y20lW3 Edmund Fitzgerald Anniversary-Special Event Ham Radio Station at Dossin Museum (Michigan)W8F –
Edmund
Fitzgerald
Special
Event
Amateur
Radio
Station, To
commemorate
the
November
10, 1975
sinking
of the
SS
Edmund
Fitzgerald,
The
Livonia
Amateur
Radio
Club
(LARC)
will
operate
a
Special
Event
“Ham”
radio
Station,
W8F, at
the
Museum
on
Saturday
Nov. 9,
from 11
AM to
3:30PM
EST. We
will be
communicating with
other
amateur
radio
operators
around
the
country
and the
world,
reminding
them of
the
Fitz’
story.
We issue
a
special
confirmation
certificate
to those
“hams”
who make
contact
with us. Read more – Patch: https://bit.ly/3Y1oQCR THURSDAY EDITION: I imagine we will start seeing the devastation from Milton during the day, most everyuone I know down in Venice made it out ok....
CAARA club member Ron tuning the new Red Cross antenna Severe solar storm could supercharge auroras across US, impact power grids, NOAA warnsGet ready, aurora chasers: There's a good chance you'll be able to catch a nice light show by the end of the week! Forecasters with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) are highlighting the potential for a severe geomagnetic storm on Thursday (Oct. 10) and Friday (Oct. 11). That storm is likely to be in the G4 class — the second-highest level on the SWPC's geomagnetic storm scale, which takes into account both severity and potential impacts. Indeed, the SWPC has issued a G4 geomagnetic storm warning — the second one they've released since 2005. The other came this past May, in advance of a storm that spawned incredibly dramatic auroral displays. The culprit? Another massive explosion from the sun. On Tuesday night (Oct. 8), the sunspot AR 3848 produced a strong X1.8-class solar flare. X flares are the most powerful type of flare, and this one triggered radio blackouts across sunlit parts of Earth. SWPC forecasters analyzed the flare using data gathered by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft and determined that it was accompanied by a coronal mass ejection (CME), a huge eruption of solar particles and magnetic fields. And that CME is directed toward Earth, and is expected to trigger a powerful geomagnetic storm when it hits us. "If you think of two magnets and they have the same polarity, and [you] try to put them together, they repel. If they're opposite, they connect, and the magnets will stay together. It's the same thing here," Shawn Dahl, service coordinator for the SWPC, said at a press conference on Wednesday (Oct. 9). "If the magnetic field in the CME is the same as Earth's, we will have an initial impact in effect and immediate enhancement in geomagnetic response, but we probably will not reach those severe levels or potentially higher," Dahl added. "If it's favorably connected as it comes through or changes into that configuration throughout its passage, then we will escalate in responses. That's where the true potential will come in, and we can issue our warnings and subsequent alerts as we reach those levels of activity." According to SWPC forecasters, this CME is racing toward Earth at speeds between 2.7 million miles per hour and 2.9 million miles per hour (4.3 million kilometers per hour to 4.7 million kilometers per hour) — the fastest one they've seen in a while, Dahl said. It could hit our planet's magnetic field as early as Thursday morning. "It's a shock front that arrives here at Earth first, like a strong cold front moving across the U.S. You suddenly get a blast of enormous wind, but it may take a while for the extreme cold temperatures to show up. It's a similar thing with these CMEs," Dahl said. According to SWPC forecasters, this CME is racing toward Earth at speeds between 2.7 million miles per hour and 2.9 million miles per hour (4.3 million kilometers per hour to 4.7 million kilometers per hour) — the fastest one they've seen in a while, Dahl said. It could hit our planet's magnetic field as early as Thursday morning. "It's a shock front that arrives here at Earth first, like a strong cold front moving across the U.S. You suddenly get a blast of enormous wind, but it may take a while for the extreme cold temperatures to show up. It's a similar thing with these CMEs," Dahl said. "We get the shock front arrival and immediate jump-up of speed and strengthen[ing] of the magnetic field," Dahl added. "The strongest part of the magnetic field, like the extreme cold temperatures, may not show up for a bit because that's in that magnetic cloud portion as it rolls and passes over Earth. For those who are monitoring it and see that we had an arrival, but then things look like they're settling down, they are not. We still have the magnetic cloud to pass over Earth, so keep that in mind." Strong geomagnetic storms can disrupt radio communications and power grids and even damage orbiting satellites. But they can also boost the auroras, also known as the northern and southern lights, making them more intense and viewable at lower latitudes than usual. "We get the shock front arrival and immediate jump-up of speed and strengthen[ing] of the magnetic field," Dahl added. "The strongest part of the magnetic field, like the extreme cold temperatures, may not show up for a bit because that's in that magnetic cloud portion as it rolls and passes over Earth. For those who are monitoring it and see that we had an arrival, but then things look like they're settling down, they are not. We still have the magnetic cloud to pass over Earth, so keep that in mind." Strong geomagnetic storms can disrupt radio communications and power grids and even damage orbiting satellites. But they can also boost the auroras, also known as the northern and southern lights, making them more intense and viewable at lower latitudes than usual.
WEDNESDAY EDITION: The lull before the big storm. God bless Florida.... Ham Radio Operators Assemble Ahead of Hurricane Milton
Across the
country, amateur
radio operators
are lending a
hand to
emergency
responders
Broadcasters are launching emergency operations as Hurricane Milton continues course for Florida’s west-central Gulf Coast. National weather forecasts show the storm making landfall late Wednesday or very early Thursday morning. As large radio broadcasters like Beasley Media Group unite with local television stations to provide round-the-clock storm coverage, they are not the only ones. Amateur radio operators across the country are signing on to assist with emergency communications. Ham radio operator Pete Stover (KD4QNA), located in Spotsylvania, Va., shared details of how his colleagues are assembling, working with the National Weather Service and local emergency responders. He shares the following status report below. Here’s what’s on the schedule for amateur radio disaster responders: In an alert issued by Dick Seeley (N8NIF), international net manager for Salvation Army Team Emergency Network (SATERN), its amateur radio operators across the country will participate in the Hurricane Watch Net. They will activate Tuesday to “line up reporting stations, EOCs, storm shelters using the amateur radio bands on 20 meters: 14.325 MHz (USB) at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 UTC), until we lose propagation at night,” said Seeley in the following report. Read more – RadioWorld: https://bit.ly/4gVfBfY Hurricane Milton - Storm UpdatesTuesday,
October 8, 2024
3:45 PM Eastern
Update: "There is still a lot of traffic in the aftermath of Helene, and we expect Milton will add significantly to that. We need to keep the gateways clear for that traffic," they asked in an email. Winlink is a system that allows for emails to be sent over a hybrid amateur radio/internet network. It is used extensively in emergency communications and disaster recovery. Tuesday, October 8, 2024 12:00 PM Eastern Update: The following information was received from the Hurricane Watch Net: The Hurricane Watch Net will Activate this afternoon for Hurricane Milton as planned. There is one minor change. Due to the timing and location of Hurricane Milton, we will operate until 11:00 PM EDT (0300 UTC). Once we’ve read the latest Advisory on Milton, we will suspend operations until 8:00 AM EDT (1200 UTC) at which time we will resume operations on 14.325.00 MHz. We will resume operations on 7.268.00 MHz at 8:30 AM EDT (1230 UTC) or at the conclusion of the Waterway Net. The remainder of our plans remain unchanged. Activation Plans: Tuesday, October 8 – (Line Up Reporting Stations, EOCs, Storm Shelters) · 20 meters: 14.325 MHz (USB) at 5:00 PM EDT (2100 UTC) until 11:00 PM EDT (0300 UTC). · 40 meters: 7.268 MHz (LSB) at 5:00 PM EDT (2100 UTC) until 11:00 PM EDT (0300 UTC). Wednesday, October 9 — (Landfall Day) 20 meters: we will resume operations on 14.325 MHz at 8:00 AM EDT (1200 UTC) and remain active until we lose propagation at night. 40 meters: we will resume operations on 7.268 MHz at 8:30 AM EDT (1230 UTC). We will remain active on this frequency throughout the day and overnight for as long as propagation allows. If propagation allows us to operate all night, we will suspend operations at 7:30 AM EDT Thursday to allow the Waterway Net to conduct their daily Net. Thursday, October 10 — (Post Storm Reports, Emergency Traffic, Health & Welfare Traffic) · 20 meters: we will resume operations on 14.325 MHz at 7:00 AM EDT (1100 UTC). · 40 meters: we will resume operations on 7.268 MHz at 8:30 AM EDT (1230 UTC). Any change to these plans will be posted here, our website, www.hwn.org, and our social media pages. Overnight, Milton completed an eyewall replacement cycle. The storm is once again intensifying. How strong will this storm become windwise? Let’s not let that be our focus. A real danger we must consider is going to extreme Storm Surge!
TUESDAY EDITION: It looks bad for Florida, I will be listening on 7268, the designated frequency for hurricane net news. I hope everyone in floding areas and also mobile homes get their ass out of town or to a cement structure. I went through one hurricane when we owned property in Florida....no fun. Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) Tentative Activation Plans: Tuesday (Line Up Reporting Stations, EOCs, Storm Shelters) · 20 meters: 14.325 MHz (USB) at 5:00 PM EDT (2100 UTC) until we lose propagation at night. · 40 meters: 7.268 MHz (LSB) at 5:00 PM EDT (2100 UTC). We will remain active on this frequency throughout the day and overnight for as long as propagation allows. If propagation allows us to operate all night, we will suspend operations at 7:30 AM EDT Wednesday to allow the Waterway Net to conduct their daily Net. Wednesday (Landfall Day) · 20 meters: we will resume operations on 14.325 MHz at 7:00 AM EDT (1100 UTC) and remain active until we lose propagation at night. · 40 meters: we will resume operations on 7.268 MHz at 8:30 AM EDT (1230 UTC). We will remain active on this frequency throughout the day and overnight for as long as propagation allows. If propagation allows us to operate all night, we will suspend operations at 7:30 AM EDT Thursday to allow the Waterway Net to conduct their daily Net. Amateur radio operators vital as Florida braces for Hurricane MiltonThe aftermath seen from hurricane Helene across five states left people without power and cell service. There are communities still recovering from damage. Energy companies are still restoring power. Now hurricane Milton is closing in on Florida. A local Amateur Radio Emergency Communication Coordinator says they’re vital components when there’s no power. He says Ham Radio Operators in Escambia County are working during Helene and expects to prepare for Milton. There are often crucial sources for communicating when power or cell service goes out. Read more – https://bit.ly/4dFvAvE
Monday Edition: Listening to local nets on 75, Nearfest was enjoyed by all and they like the new location, nicely done volunteers...10 meters has been so unbelievable as of late, get on the air! A robot gets a face of living ‘skin’ that allows it to smileThe uncanny feat is the result of new technology using engineered living skin tissue and human-like ligaments to give robots a more natural smile, according to Tokyo University researchers who unveiled their work this week. STORY
Hurricane Milton - Storm UpdatesSunday, October 6, 2024 9:00 PM Eastern Update: Hurricane Milton was located just over 300 miles west-northeast of Progreso, Mexico, and 835 miles west-southwest of Tampa, Florida with winds of 100 miles per hour. Hurricane Milton was moving in an east-southeast direction at 6 mph and is forecasted to arrive near Tampa, Florida on Wednesday as at least a Category 3. The Hurricane Watch Net is making tentative plans to activate on Tuesday afternoon for Hurricane Milton. The current forecast, issued at 5:00 PM EDT Sunday is calling for Milton to become a powerful Category 4 Hurricane with sustained winds of 145 miles per hour. This is the same strength Helene was at landfall a week ago. Additionally, Milton is expected to be at least a Cat 2 Hurricane after crossing Florida and entering the Atlantic Ocean. Those in Bermuda need to keep a close eye on Milton as this storm could possibly affect the island on Saturday. Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) Tentative Activation Plans: Tuesday (Line Up Reporting Stations, EOCs, Storm Shelters) · 20 meters: 14.325 MHz (USB) at 5:00 PM EDT (2100 UTC) until we lose propagation at night. · 40 meters: 7.268 MHz (LSB) at 5:00 PM EDT (2100 UTC). We will remain active on this frequency throughout the day and overnight for as long as propagation allows. If propagation allows us to operate all night, we will suspend operations at 7:30 AM EDT Wednesday to allow the Waterway Net to conduct their daily Net. Wednesday (Landfall Day) · 20 meters: we will resume operations on 14.325 MHz at 7:00 AM EDT (1100 UTC) and remain active until we lose propagation at night. · 40 meters: we will resume operations on 7.268 MHz at 8:30 AM EDT (1230 UTC). We will remain active on this frequency throughout the day and overnight for as long as propagation allows. If propagation allows us to operate all night, we will suspend operations at 7:30 AM EDT Thursday to allow the Waterway Net to conduct their daily Net.
NEARFEST EDITION: I have heard nothing but compliments on the new venue New Boston, NH hamfest, a happy group, well organized and great weather...kudos to all involved in making this happen...
Amateur Radio
Newsline Report
Amateur Radio and Robot Play Ball!The Staten Island Technical High School Robotics Team, in Staten Island, New York, took its knowledge and skills to the baseball diamond. The team created a robot that was capable of throwing a ceremonial first pitch and, in early September, the members were invited to showcase and execute their robot at a Staten Island FerryHawks minor league game. But Everton Henriques, KD2ZZT, engineering and technology teacher, said there was a major league snag. “Approximately 30 minutes before ‘showtime,’ the team discovered a number of hardware issues that occurred during transport, followed by the complete destruction of the main servo wiring system during a subsequent test,” he said. “Cell phone calls and texts could not handle the communication chaos, and we had to resort to our established amateur radio simplex frequency to coordinate equipment and logistics in those final minutes. The team was spread out between the field, stands, and merchandise table in the upper deck area. Without radios, there likely would not have been enough time to coordinate efforts to get the job done...but in the end, the team was able to pull it off.” You can watch the robot’s first pitch on the school’s Facebook page. All 26 members of the robotics team hold amateur radio licenses, with 2 Extra Class and 3 General licenses in the mix. “Cool stuff,” responded ARRL Education and Learning Manager Steve Goodgame, K5ATA, to the robot’s ceremonial first pitch. Staten Island Technical High School is the first New York City school to receive a grant from ARRL. Goodgame said ARRL has been working with the school to build and equip an amateur radio station, to test and license students, and to put science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) kits in the classroom, thanks to a grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC). Henriques attended the ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology earlier this year. The ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology is a donor-funded professional development program designed to help teachers elevate their STEM programs through the use of wireless technology.
Biggest solar flare since 2017 erupts from sun and Earth is in the firing line (video)The sun has just unleashed its most powerful solar flare this cycle, a colossal X-class eruption. The X9.05 solar flare peaked at 8:10 a.m. EDT (1210 GMT), triggering shortwave radio blackouts over Africa and Europe, the sunlit portion of Earth at the time of eruption. The solar flare emanated from the sunspot group AR3842, which has made headlines before. On Oct. 1, the same sunspot region fired off a powerful X7.1 solar flare and unleashed a coronal mass ejection (CME) — a plume of plasma and magnetic field — which is currently barreling toward Earth. Digital Bumper Sticker Tells Everyone What You’re Listening ToBumper stickers are usually political, crude, or otherwise inflammatory. Rather a more fun example is this digital creation from [Guy Dupont], who made a bumper sticker that broadcasts what he’s listening to on the stereo. [Guy] found a nice wide 11-inch bar LCD that was the right aspect ratio to suit the “bumper sticker” aesthetic. It had an HDMI interface, so he decided to drive it with a Raspbery Pi Zero 2W. Power for the system was derived from 12-volt lines going to his vehicle’s rear view camera. For an enclosure, he simply stuck the Pi and a buck converter on the back of the display and heat shrinked the whole thing. He also threw some magnets in there to stick it to the car. How does the screen know what song to display? Well, [Guy] already has his Spotify listens scrobbling to Last.fm. Thus, he just made a script that scrapes his Last.fm page, which runs on a Particle Boron microcontroller, which has a cellular connection of its own. The Boron gets the song data, and spits it over to the Pi via Bluetooth. Then the Pi generates an image for the display. Oh, and there’s also a neat Easter Egg. In honor of brat summer, the background changes to #8ACE00 green if the system detects you’re listening to Charli XCX. Neat. It’s a neat build with a lot of moving parts. We’re surprised we haven’t seen anything like this before though, it’s really rather fun. Also, how’s about that taste of the old Internet—when was the last time you heard somebody mention scrobbling? Gosh, we’re getting old. We’ve featured some of [Guy’s] works before, too, like the amusing Mailblocks project. Video after the break. THURSDAY EDITION: It still looks good for the new Nearfest at New Boston, NH. I will pass, it's a 2 hour drive and I have nothing to sell or need to buy. I would like to see my ham friends but I can do that at HRO at one of the lunch sessions....Ham video on ham s helping in NC Forget cell phones -- amateur radio shines in the wake of HeleneIREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — Helene knocked power out across the Carolinas resulting in cellular and internet outages. But when modern technology fails, wireless radios shine. "We have a specific mission and that is to provide emergency communications in disasters," said Dan Gitro, a licensed amateur radio operator in Iredell County who is known to his fellow ham radio enthusiasts as K2DMG. Amateur radio operators, also known as ham radio operators, stepped up to offer a helping hand. "We don’t need modern technology for amateur radio," Gitro explained. "We need a battery, a generator, something to power a radio and you can have communication anywhere in the world." That's how Gitro has been able to coordinate welfare checks and emergency broadcasts after Helene. "We are still taking reports from people in areas who have not heard from first response," he told WCNC Charlotte on Wednesday. It's a radio network Callen Holmes said she is grateful for after ham radio operators helped her reach her 93-year-old grandfather Cedar Mountain, North Carolina. "They had lost power. We knew that, we had tried to get in touch with them. Service is bad," Holmes explained. Holmes’ father and brother decided to make the drive from Alabama to pick up their loved one. She shared how they tapped into the network. "I was listening to the ham radio, writing down every single street that they could take," she said "A lot of reports were coming over the air saying 'this road's closed.'" The radio communications allowed them to make it safely and get Holmes the reassurance she needed. "Hearing that they were alive and well, was so great," she said. "Seeing him in person was amazing. I was able to give him a big hug." It is reunions like this that fuel Gitro through long days. "As long as there is a need out there, I'll be right here in this seat to help folks," Gitro said.
WEDNESDAY EDITION: Different forecast for the hamfest this weekend,,,oops..... In times of devastation many turn to old school tech to keep communication lines openMOORESVILLE, N.C. (WBTV) - A major problem in the wake of Helene has been broken lines of communications. Cellular service in the affected areas is spotty at best and there’s even been reports of radio stations being knocked off the air. But thanks to old school technology, people who are in need of information can still get it through HAM radio. It’s a vital link during a critical time. “These are all areas that have been hit extremely hard,” Dan Gitro said. The damage is widespread and overwhelming, and when the communications go dark because of power outages many turn to old school tech to keep the information pipeline flowing. “In times like this, this is where HAMS really shine,” said Gitro. Gitro has been a HAM radio operator for years spending most of his time talking to people all around the world. But during the crisis going on in our western counties…his attention is laser-focused. “We are passing information in and out of the affected areas in western North Carolina right now for family members looking for loved ones looking relatives in the affected areas,” Gitro said. This back bedroom in Dan’s house has become the central command center for any and all information for those who found themselves in the path of Helene. “Our communication with them on the radio is vital,” Gitro explained. From his chair, Gitro monitors and relays stories and needs of the hardest-hit areas. Some of what he hears is simply heartbreaking.” “Bees Creek, that area has been literally been wiped off the map,” the HAM operator told us. HAM operators notify local officials who can affect a more precise and rapid rescue or recovery effort than they would be able to do otherwise. “A lot of people have just gone ahead and evacuated,” could be heard over the HAM chatter. But in talking with many on air Tuesday afternoon, not all intentions are honorable. “There is definitely looting going on in the Swannanoa area unfortunately,” said Ed, a radio operator in Swannanoa. But the majority of the people showing up are there to help and not harm as HAM operators take the reigns directing people where to go to find the greatest need. “People were lucky to survive and we’re still in survival mode because the waters haven’t receded yet,” Gitro said. And it may be days before some of these areas are to be even accessible. Those radio operators say they’ll stay on air until the job is done. Universe as We Know It May End Sooner Than ExpectedThe ‘Sombrero Potential’ as seen with the Higgs mechanism. One of the exciting aspects of some fields of physics is that they involve calculating the expected time until the Universe ends or experiences fundamental shifts that would render most if not all of the ‘laws of physics’ invalid. Within the Standard Model (SM), the false vacuum state is one such aspect, as it implies that the Universe’s quantum fields that determine macrolevel effects like mass can shift through quantum field decay into a lower, more stable state. One such field is the Higgs field, which according to a team of researchers may decay sooner than we had previously assumed. As the Higgs field (through the Higgs boson) is responsible for giving particles mass, it’s not hard to imagine the chaos that would ensue if part of the Higgs field were to decay and cause a spherical ripple effect throughout the Universe. Particle masses would change, along with all associated physics, as suddenly the lower Higgs field state means that everything has significantly more mass. To say that it would shake up the Universe would an understatement. Of course, this expected time-to-decay has only shifted from 10794 years to 10790 years with the corrections to the previous calculations as provided in the paper by [Pietro Baratella] and colleagues, and they also refer to it as ‘slightly shorter’. A sidenote here is also that the electroweak vacuum’s decay is part of the imperfect SM, which much like the false vacuum hypothesis are part of these models, and not based on clear empirical evidence (yet). TUESDAY EDITION: I wonder if the newly located Nearfest is starting a tradition of always being sunny and nice unlike the always rainy and cold Deerfield venue? The weather looks great for this weekend..... Helene - Storm UpdatesMonday, September 30, 2024, 3:30 PM Eastern Update: ARRL leadership has been engaged throughout the weekend with key volunteers in the southeast, especially in hard hit North Carolina, to facilitate any support headquarters can provide to the impacted area. The devastation is widespread and greater than many seasoned emergency responders have ever seen before. There are
ad-hoc health
and welfare nets
that have popped
up, parallel to
official
emergency
communications
efforts. Amateur
radio operators
in the area that
have the means
to communicate
have been
facilitating
some level of
traffic on
several
repeaters
located on
mountaintops in
North and South
Carolina. Candidate for ARRL Northwestern Division Director Disqualified; Tharp Declared ElectedDan Marler,
K7REX, the
challenger
seeking the
position of ARRL
Northwestern
Division
Director, was
declared
disqualified
Saturday by the
ARRL Ethics and
Elections
Committee (E&E).
Marler was
running against
incumbent Mark
Tharp, KB7HDX.
Due to the
disqualification,
the committee
has declared
Tharp elected.
MONDAY EDITION: The weather forecast for the NeARFEST ham event this Friday and Saturday still looks perfect....
ARISS – Talk
with Astronauts In preparation for a contact, students choose their questions and practice using proper protocol and enunciation for clear communication over ham radio. Recent contacts took place at schools in France, Greece, India, and Russia. A few contacts have even used digital amateur television (HamTV). Schools can submit proposals to ARISS to arrange direct contacts, where a ham radio at the school connects to the ISS, or telebridge contacts, where the school connects through telephone to a ham radio ground station linked to the ISS. ARISS – Radio
Experimenters Kit How to stay in touch when the grid goes down: ham radio, Wi-Fi, and other lifelines during disastersWe were spared, but many of our friends were not. You know what I’m talking about—Hurricane Helene. Last week, Helene ravaged Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. It’s hard to see the images and videos of the devastation. Many areas will never be the same. There’s a good chance many of you have friends in the affected areas. As I write this article, recovery efforts are underway. Before the storm came ashore on Thursday, September 26, we double-checked our preparations here at home in Fayette County. Based on the stock levels at local stores, it looks like many of you made preparations ahead of time, and that’s good. Two months ago, I shared my thoughts about emergency preparations, and it’s worth a read (or re-read). It’s important to have the essentials covered ahead of time. During the night of 9/26 and the early morning hours of 9/27, I was running a radio net for Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS) as a volunteer with the Georgia AuxComm program. Part of my job was to take field reports that came in over the radio. As I worked my radio, I also monitored two systems designed for emergency response personnel—WebEOC, which is used for coordination between emergency management agencies in Georgia, and NWSChat, which is used by the National Weather Service to communicate with various partner organizations. Both systems are restricted “back channel” methods of communication and coordination. I experienced two emotions as I watched the reports come in. STORY Volunteers – The Heart and Soul of ARRL HeadquartersARRL is quite privileged to have the service of many member-volunteers. Your national association could not function without the tens of thousands of dedicated hams who give freely of their time and talents to serve the greater amateur radio community. The ARRL Field Organization is comprised entirely of volunteers – Section Managers, Affiliated Club Coordinators, Emergency Coordinators, and all other positions are all filled by those who have stepped up for the task. In central Connecticut, where ARRL is based, we enjoy a dedicated group of volunteers who come to ARRL Headquarters to serve. “The volunteers really keep this place functioning,” said ARRL Member Services Representative Chanel Holley. Holley coordinates the volunteers in her role as ARRL’s receptionist. “They’re always happy to be here and bring so much dedication to their service,” she said. ARRL is sincerely grateful to the HQ volunteer team. If you come to visit ARRL Headquarters, and the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station, W1AW, join us in thanking this great crew who serve in many different functions including W1AW, ARRL Library, QSL Bureau, and the ARRL Lab.
WEEKEND EDITION: The weather forecast for the NeARFEST ham event this Friday and Saturday looks perfect......Thanks Joe-WPO for the surprise in the mail....
Amateur Radio
Newsline Report
Portable Multi-SDR Rig Keeps Your Radios CoolWith as cheap and versatile as RTL-SDR devices are, it’s a good idea to have a couple of them on hand for some rainy day hacking. In fact, depending on what signals you’re trying to sniff out of the air, you may need multiple interfaces anyway. Once you’ve amassed this arsenal of software defined radios, you may find yourself needing a way to transport and deploy them. Luckily, [Jay Doscher] has you covered. His latest creation, the SDR SOLO, is a modular system for mounting RTL-SDRs. Each dongle is encased in its own 3D printed frame, which not only protects it, but makes it easy to attach to the base unit. To keep the notoriously toasty radios cool, each frame has been designed to maximize airflow. You can even mount a pair of 80 mm fans to the bottom of the stack to really get the air moving. The current design is based around the RTL-SDR Blog V4, but could easily be adapted to your dongle of choice. In addition to the row of SDR dongles, the rig also includes a powered USB hub. Each radio connects to the hub via a short USB cable, which means that you’ll only need a single USB cable running back to your computer. There’s also various mounts and adapters for attaching antennas to the system. Stick it all on the end of a tripod, and you’ve got a mobile radio monitoring system that’ll be the envy of the hackerspace. As we’ve come to expect, [Jay] put a lot of thought and effort into the CAD side of this project. Largely made of 3D printed components, his projects often feature a rugged and professional look that really stands out. Foxboro family makes worldwide connections with ham radio
A local woman found a unique skill to be helpful to the community and beyond. Joanne McLaughlin of Foxboro, a retired teacher, has been a licensed amateur radio operator since October 2000 when the Federal Communication Commission issued her call sign, KB1FVN. McLaughlin said she started the hobby because she saw first hand some family members who are licensed amateur radio operators. Amateur radio operators can talk across town or across the world without a phone or internet. “It also allowed me to learn something new and share a hobby with my husband and son,” she said. McLaughlin who is currently a member of the Norwood Amateur Radio Club and the American Radio Relay League, the national association for amateur radio, is also a past board member of Women Radio Operators of New England. She holds an amateur radio technician class license and explained that some of the benefits of being an amateur radio operator are having an opportunity to meet, work, and learn new skills. McLaughlin said people involved the hobby experiment with radio, build equipment and antennas, learn good operating skills, operate outdoors, and give back to the local community by helping support local events and being ready to help during a time of need. “My husband (Phil McLaughlin) who also has his amateur radio license and I are active with the National Weather Service Skywarn program,” she said. “Using our radios, we report local weather conditions directly to the NWS Norton weather office. We participate with other amateur radio operators all around the area relaying information to the weather service during storms.” They also have helped with communication with road races, cycling, and IronMan races. Amateur radio operators help with public service events such as the Norwood Festival of Lights, the Boston Marathon, the Head of the Charles Regatta, and the Walk for Hunger to name a few events which use amateur radio operators to assist with their annual operations. She’s also assisted with Norwood’s Fourth of July parade. “For 2023, the parade committee needed a driver for the Grand Marshal and I was asked to drive,” she said. “They asked me to return for the 2024 parade. This year I drove a bright blue convertible Corvette.” “We are also shelter-trained and have done communication during long-term electrical blackouts from the shelter,” McLaughlin said. She said there are even contests to see how many people you contact and the operator who makes the most contacts wins. There is field day a 24-hour event in June where operators set up their equipment in a field, tent or camper and see how many contacts they can make testing their remote operating skills. She said there are many other events throughout the year. “I have a home station, mobile radios, and several handheld transceivers that operate in the very high frequency/ultra high frequency (VHF/UHF) bands which the FCC has allocated for amateur radio use,” McLaughlin said. She finds the joy that comes from meeting new people, making friends, and giving back to the community by sharing her time and talents. “It’s fun, social, educational, and can be a lifeline in times of need,” McLaughlin said.
THURSDAY EDITION: I finished hooking up the plow on the truck yesterday, just in case this winter....The all new Nearfest at a new location is coming uip quick, I am sure it will be a successful event rain or shine..... ARRL Systems Service DisruptionTwo major systems that have not been returned to service include DXCC and our accounting system. Most other systems have returned to full service, and we are working to clean up the stragglers. DXCC® System Our DXCC software was written some 20 years ago. Although an attempt was made 8 years ago to reprogram it to function in a newer environment, that effort was unsuccessful, so the old system remains running today. The complication with bringing it back to service is that it runs on an older version of Windows that is not supported, and more importantly, we cannot purchase adequate protection to return it to service on an internet-based network. We have created an air-gapped network to run the system on and have it operating in a test, using a different method for connecting it to Logbook of The World® and online DXCC -- the web service that runs the online DXCC application. This configuration is being tested and we expect it can go into production soon. We will work to process the backlog as quickly as possible. New DXCC? There were statements made by an ARRL Director about work on a new DXCC system. That is not factual. While we have ideas for merging DXCC and LoTW® into a single ARRL Radiosport platform, this concept has not been fully spec’d out or put into development. ARRL Financials The system we use for accounting was hit hard by the cyber-attack. Currently, the system is fully operational and the ARRL Foundation books are in place. ARRL’s corporate books are current as of 6/30/23, and we are working to load the balance of the data through 12/31/23. Once we are certain that the books tie to the audited 2023 financials, we will move to load the 2024 transactions, which are in digital and paper formats. That will take some time, but we will have all the data current in time for the 2025 Annual Meeting and the annual audit. Backups Another statement made was about ARRL’s backups of our IT environment. There was an effort last year to move all of our backups into the cloud. That was completed mid-2023. There was a routine discipline of backups that went through mid-May 2024 when the cyber attack occurred. Unfortunately, the entire cloud infrastructure was penetrated, and all of the environments were deleted. Not encrypted. This caused us to revert to other backups that had been made and stored in other places. As a result, we were largely able to continue all of our major services especially publishing our 4 magazines and keeping book projects, like ARRL Handbook 101, on schedule. Today, ARRL is using a proprietary system to backup systems and data locally and to the cloud. We are also continuing to use air gapped, off-site backups in specific areas and are expanding that for disaster recovery purposes. The new IT environment is currently being rolled out, so the assertion that there is something wrong or staff are incompetent is not factual. We appreciate your continued patience and understanding. Another incredible storyDuring the evening of Sept. 21, Greg, who is an amateur radio operator WX7Z, heard an emergency call on the VHF radio frequency that is called the 52. Ed - K7ELC was calling out to get medical help for a 51-year-old male that rolled his four wheeler. Mac -W7ENZ found this person near his property where there is no cell coverage, but had his ham radio with him. He gave the radio to Ed - K7ELC and asked him to radio somebody to get help coming while he gave aid to the injured. Greg - WX7Z called Clearwater’s 911 and informed them of the situation. The injured person was in serious condition with head injuries, broken collarbone, broken ribs, and had difficulty breathing. Law enforcement and ambulance was dispatched to the location which was about 35 minutes away from town. Life Flight was also requested. During this whole time Greg would update dispatch with what was happening on scene. The injured was transported to the hospital via Life Flight and is recovering there. As amateur radio operators we train to be available to help when help is needed. We have a program called the Wilderness Protocol which encourages the use of the 52 frequency for emergencies. The more that ham radio operators listen to the radio the more chance there is that someone will be listening to take your emergency call. This is something that has been used many times throughout the country and here in Idaho. This is just another incredible story to share. Lithium-Ion Battery Hotswapping, Polarity, HoldersEveryone loves, and should respect, lithium-ion batteries. They pack a ton of power and can make our projects work better. I’ve gathered a number of tips and tricks about using them over the years, based on my own hacking and also lessons I’ve learned from others. This installment includes a grab-bag of LiIon tricks that will help you supercharge your battery use, avoid some mistakes, and make your circuits even safer. Plus, I have a wonderful project that I just have to share. Hot-swapping CellsWhen your device runs out of juice, you might not always want to chain yourself to a wall charger. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could just hot-swap cells? Indeed it is, I’ve been doing it for years, it’s dead simple to support, but you can also do it wrong. Let me show you how to do it right! Recently, a new handheld has hit the hacker markets – the Hackberry Pi. With a Blackberry keyboard and a colour screen, it’s a pretty standard entry into the trend of handheld Pi Zero-backed computers with Blackberry keyboards. It’s not open-source and the author does not plan to open-source its hardware, so I want to make it absolutely clear I don’t consider it hacker-friendly or worth promoting. It did publish schematics, though, and these helped me find a dangerous mistake that the first revision made when trying to implement LiIon battery hot-swap. This is not how you connect batteries in parallel, It uses BL-5C cells, which are widely available as aftermarket batteries for Nokia phones. It’s a smart choice, though it’s worth remembering that vendors constantly inflate the capacity on the label, and my gut feel is that the more inflated the number is, the more shady the cell you’re getting. Remember, there’s a physical limit to the capacity you can shove into a certain cell volume, with 18650s limited to about 3500 mAh, as the market offerings show. (And if you try to put more capacity into a cell of certain volume, you get the Galaxy Note 7. Ahem.) The batteries in the Hackberry Pi should be hot-swappable – no supercaps, they’re just in parallel with nothing in between the cells. Nothing in between? Question – what happens when you connect two batteries, one charged and one discharged, in parallel? Remember, LiIon batteries can give out a ton of current, and phone batteries doubly so due to the GSM modem peak current requirements. Decent voltage difference, very low resistance – you get a lot of current flowing, discharging the full cell needlessly or causing a brownout at best, and charring PCB tracks at worst. but just two more components make it a fair bit better. The easy solution is to use PTC resettable fuses in series with the positive or negative terminal, either between each cell, or just one between two cells. If current surges sharply, the fuse will heat up and increase its resistance, limiting the current. But remember, a fuse’s current rating is deceiving, and a 2 A fuse won’t actually trip at exactly 2.1 A. This is beneficial for you, though – while doing hotswap, one cell will have to produce twice the current than normally, even if for a short moment. Also, remember to size the cell protection fuse not just for device consumption, but also the charging current it will receive! It’s certain that the new Hackberry Pi revision will fix this, and if you have the first revision, just swap batteries carefully and you will be 100% fine. Hotswap doesn’t have to be complicated – now you all know how to do a very simple form of it. Oh, and, having adding the fuse, you can easily get a good few extra features with only a few components, like, say, polarity protection! The Polarity HacksWith 18650 holders, it’s easy to insert a cell the wrong way by accident – I’ve burned out a good few boards like that, spending precious hours and dollars replacing burned out components. A 18650 cell holds a ton of energy and can burn out a lot of silicon very easily. Or if you’re using pouch cells using JST-PH connectors, you have to watch out for two polarity conventions. In short, polarity reversal is a real risk. How do you protect from it? The reverse polarity crowbar circuit is a dead simple way to add polarity protection – all you need is a diode across the battery, placed after the fuse, flipped in a way that it will conduct when the polarity is wrong, tripping the fuse before any circuitry is damaged. The diode’s rating has to be higher than the fuse’s trip point – otherwise, the diode will burn out before the fuse trips, negating the circuit. I’ve tested this, it works, it’s now being manufactured in hundreds. You might also want the user, whether you or someone else (especially someone else!) to quickly notice that the polarity is flipped. The solution is simple – add a LED and a resistor flipped in a way it lights up when the cell is reversed, before the fuse. Use a red or orange LED to make it crystal clear that something is wrong; don’t use green or blue, or any colours that often mean “the device is working normally”; add silkscreen markings to indicate that this is a “wrong polarity” LED. Back to cells with JST-PH connectors. Are you developing a project that will get into hackers’ hands, and you don’t want to have them rewire their entire LiIon cell arsenal just for your device? Thankfully, 0 R resistors save the day; it’s dead simple to add two pairs of 0603 0R’s next to a JST-PH 2-pin connector. Make one polarity the default, and leave the option of switching the polarity in there. Again, this goes before the fuse, and before the reverse polarity LED, too. Of course, your users will have to make sure the red wire goes to positive, but at least you’re helping them get there. This quickly, we have dealt with a number of polarity problems, using barely any components, all of them cheap, no fancy ICs. Your boards deserve to be fail-proof, serving you no matter the mistakes you make. A New 18650 Holder Enters The SceneLeaf contact holders are great. Unlike spring holders, they’re low-inductance, high-current, resillient to shocks, reliable, and cheap to find. Unfortunately, the leaf often catches on the cell’s heatshrink ends when you unplug the battery, slowly tearing it off piece by piece, and at some point even causing the positive terminal protective ring to detach – which risks a massive short-circuit as you unplug the battery or just drop the holder hard enough. Not great! I’ve developed a pretty unique holder for 18650s, that I currently use for a pretty substantial portable device project of mine. It’s got all the advantages of spring holders, but it wraps around the battery fully, protecting it from shocks and the elements, and closes with a twist-on locking cap. Plus, it’s belt-mountable, thanks to a 3D-printed holder. It lends itself wonderfully to hotswap, too! Most of all, it’s fully 3D printable. All you need is some threaded inserts and some leaf contacts from Keystone that I found on Mouser – a baggie with 25 of them is quite cheap, and worth the money. (Remember to scroll through categories for things like battery contacts, you will find cool stuff!) There are definitely drawbacks to this type of holder, but it’s seriously great. Just a few threaded inserts and screws, and off you go! It’s parametric, designed in FreeCAD, so you can change a fair few parameters without breaking a sweat. The holder is designed for quick swap – just twist the cap and the battery falls out. Swapping 18650 cells is a cakewalk. High current consumption: tested; portability: tested; not damaging the cell wrappers: tested. I’ve been actively using these holders for about nine months now – they fulfilled their purpose and far more. There’s something that makes it feel like military equipment, but I can assure you that it’s not designed by the lowest bidder. Put these on a belt, screw these into a project, or slap two of them together back to back – maybe even lengthen it and use three cells in series! Thanks to someone’s advice from Twitter, there are also vent holes at the positive terminal’s place. (Of course, if your cell starts venting, you have a big problem on your hands no matter what you’re using.) Still, it’s got these holes, in addition to ten other features. And it’s printable vertically with no supports. Are there possible failure modes? Absolutely. The main one is the cylinder breaking across the layer lines under pressure, especially if you drop it. I’ve tried printing the holder laying down, so that layer lines are aligned differently, but cleaning the tube from internal supports is damn brutal and the tolerances for the 18650 inside are pretty tight. I’m going to pick up a roll of PLA-Plus, since it supposedly is more strong, and print a new set of holders. If you print it, let us know! Another failure mode is the spring’s compressing over time. I might be overcompressing the metal, so I just ought to check the datasheets and adjust the width. Of course, strong compression is a plus, but it’s of no use if the holder starts being super bump-sensitive after a few months of use. Last but not least, the positive wire is a failure point, though the channel i’ve recently introduced mostly fixes that. More To ComeThere are a few additions in the queue for the v3 holder. One is unifying the threaded inserts so that you don’t have to buy too many different ones, and improving mounting for the belt holster to limit the molten plastic backflow. Another is adding strips on the side that’d be a base for a long metal plate, which would acts as extra backing for the 18650 holder. The only problem is finding a suitable metal plate – flat, 70 mm long, about 4 mm wide, with screw holes alongside, or, at least, on both ends. Anyone have any ideas, especially if it’s something commonly found that can be repurposed? I’m currently working on a custom PCB for this holder – involving protection, fuse holding, reverse polarity protection and warning LED, and maybe even an opamp circuit for roughly measuring the battery voltage. In short, including all of the tips shared here. WEDNESDAY EDITION: Coffee and donuts today at the club, stop by if you are in the Gloucester, MA area.....I got on 10 and 15 ssb yesterday and worked a dozen countries with 100 watts, no need for the amplifier. It is really nice to have those bands open..... Helena - Storm UpdatesAmateur radio
is responding to
two different
tropical events
as of Tuesday,
September 24,
2024 at 1:00 PM
Eastern. The National Hurricane Center reports that Hurricane John made landfall on Mexico's southern Pacific coast late Monday evening about 80 miles east of the resort of Acapulco as a Category 3 storm. Winds were reported up to 120 miles per hour (mph) before the storm began weakening back to tropical storm status early Tuesday. Life-threatening flash flooding is expected across portions of southern Mexico during the next few days. Tropical Storm Helena Meanwhile, hurricane and storm surge watches cover much of the Gulf Coast of Florida Tuesday morning as a system churning in the Caribbean Sea was just designated as Tropical Storm Helene and is projected to strengthen into a major storm. Residents should ensure they have their hurricane plan in place and also follow the advice given by local officials. Florida declared a state of emergency for 41 counties along and near the state's Gulf Coast because of threats from the storm. If the storm makes landfall as a hurricane, it would be the fourth landfalling hurricane in the mainland U.S. this year, joining Beryl, Debby, and Francine. The Hurricane Watch Net is making tentative plans to activate Thursday for what is expected to be Hurricane Helene, currently forecasted to be a Category 3 hurricane at landfall. With its fast forward speed, it is expected to remain a hurricane well into southern Georgia before weakening to a tropical storm. HWN Activation Plans: Thursday
Friday
Handie-Talkie or Walkie-Talkie? Good story....TUESDAY EDITION: The above is true with the exception of the uphill in the snow.... Knowing the code is fun and I still put some time in with this mode but lets' face it, we are all appliance ops today. New hams are on FT8 or SSB. The real problem today is not morse code, it's getting some people into hobby of any age....The ARRL division rep talked at our last meeting and said the league is developing and testing a curriculum which adds ham radio to the STEM program at several schools in two NE states (he would not say what states but I think they are CT and NH). The schools are private or charter schools because public education has a set state curriculum, in other words they teach for the test....a test all must pass to graduate. They are more interested in the test and adding fluff curses like music, band, chorus, art, and foreign language...did I say that? They eliminated shop classes and home economics as outdated, stuff you learn on your own with your parents. lol Apple May Break Into the Hearing Aid IndustryWhen the entry of a tech giant such as Apple into a market represents its liberation from exploitation, that market must be really broken, yet the reported FDA approval of the hearing aid feature in the latest AirPod earbuds seems to represent just that. The digital hearing aid business is notorious for its sharp sales practices and eye-watering prices, so for all Apple’s own notoriety the news might actually represent a leap forward for consumers in that sector. We have to ask though, if Apple of all people are now the Good Guys, where has the world of electronics gone so badly wrong? Your grandparents decades ago would have had a simple analogue hearing aid if they had one, usually a small transistor circuit and perhaps with some kind of analogue filtering. Digital aids with DSP algorithms to pick out speech arrived some time in the 1990s, and from there evolved a market in which their high prices increasingly didn’t match the cost of the technology or software involved. At least in the UK, they were sold aggressively to older people as less cumbersome or better than the National Health Service aids, and if you had an older person in the family it was routine to see pages and pages of targeted junk mail offering dubious financial schemes to pay for them. The question then, given that a modern hearing aid has a relatively cheap microcontroller and DSP at its heart, why has the open source community not risen to the challenge? The answer is that they have, though the Tympan seems an over-expensive trinket for what it is and the LoCHAid and Open Speech Platform seem to have sunk without trace. Can we do better? ARRL Section Managers Gather for Training at HeadquartersThe ARRL Field Organization is divided geographically into 71 sections. A key volunteer that members in each section elect is the Section Manager. These ARRL member-volunteers take a critical role in being the front line of the organization to members. On Saturday, September 15, 2024, 13 ARRL Section Managers gathered at ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut, for training. ARRL staff members gave them a detailed overview of what the association does on a daily basis, and how the resources from HQ can serve members out in the sections. ARRL Field Service Manager Mike Walters, W8ZY, serves as the point of contact for Section Managers. “These folks have taken on a tremendous responsibility to serve ARRL members and ham radio in general. They’re the ones who facilitate the work of ARRL in the field, and we want to make sure they have every tool available to them,” said Walters. After a day of hard work in the conference room, the group of volunteers activated W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station. Section Managers in attendance include: Scott Bauer, W2LC, of Western New York; Matthew Crook, W1MRC, of South Carolina; Carmen Greene, KP4QVQ, of Puerto Rico; Steven Keller, KC3DSO, of Delaware; Bruce Kripton, AG6X, of San Diego; Alan Maenchen, AD6E, of Pacific; Jon McCombie, N1ILZ of Eastern Massachusetts; Antonis Papatsaras, AA6PP, of San Francisco; Houston Polson, N5YS, of Louisiana; Scott Rosenfeld, N7JI, of Oregon; Douglas Sharafonowich, WA1SFH, of Connecticut; and Chris Van Winkle, AB3WG, of Maryland-DC. Also in attendance was ARRL Great Lakes Division Director Scott Yonally, N8SY. Kettering University Professor Helping Transform Amateur Radio EducationIn December, Dr. Ronald Kumon, Kettering University Associate Professor of Natural Sciences, was awarded the Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL) Terrell Teaching Innovation Grant, a $6,000 investment to transform his Physics 224 course into a cutting-edge learning experience. Dr. Kumon’s goal is to integrate wireless technology and amateur radio in ways that excite students and prepare them for future careers in STEM fields. Through the CETL grant, he’s redefining how hands-on learning meets the future of communication technology. To prepare for the redesigned course, Dr. Kumon attended national conferences, connected with other universities, and collaborated with Kettering alumni to shape a program that sets students up for success. As part of his outreach, Dr. Kumon participated in key amateur radio events and research initiatives, including a solar eclipse radio experiment that gathered critical scientific data. “My work on the ‘Electricity and Magnetism’ course is focused on placing the traditional content of the course into the context of a topic of contemporary interest, namely wireless technology,” Dr. Kumon said. “I am planning to use amateur radio licensing as an entry point into wireless technology because it will enable students to gain practical skills and a credential that can potentially last a lifetime.” Students who take the new course will have the chance to earn an amateur radio license — adding a professional credential to their portfolio. With the course set to launch in Fall 2024, Dr. Kumon is already preparing future coursework, labs, and materials, ensuring students don’t just learn — they lead.
MONDAY EDITION: 10-15 meters were open last weekend, lots of dx to be had if that is your thing....I hated to do it but we had the stove burning this weekend to take the chill out... College Gives You Practical ElectronicsWhile classroom learning isn’t for everyone, one awesome benefit of the Internet is that you have a variety of college classes available to you, even if they aren’t for credit. You can virtually audit classes from institutions around the world on just about any topic you can think of. Of course, the topic we think of is practical electronics and that happens to be the title of a class from [Dr. Bill Newhall] of the University of Colorado. You can watch the first part in the video below. So far, there are two lectures available but more are coming as the class is ongoing right now. [Dr. Newhall] is one of us. He’s a ham radio operator and a pilot, as well as an electrical engineer. This class is aimed at others who need to understand electronics in another context. It reminded us of the genesis of one of our favorite books — also from a professor — The Art of Electronics. The course material promises to cover topics ranging from solar and battery power sources, power conversions, IoT and RF communications, sensors, and DC motor control. Of course, there will also be sections on microcontrollers and associated hardware. Just like a real class, the first lecture has a lot of housekeeping information, but you might want to skim it anyway. But if you want to get to the electronics, the second video won’t disappoint. While it covers a lot of ground that is probably familiar to most Hackaday readers, it is a good review and there’s more coming in the future lectures. With all the resources online, you can easily hack your own degree plan together. Having access to instructors like [Dr. Newhall] is exactly the point we were making about how the Internet allows you to leverage the best educational opportunities no matter where you are. WEEKEND EDITION: BOSTON (AP) — A study that explores the feasibility of using pigeons to guide missiles and one that looks at the swimming abilities of dead fish were among the winners Thursday of this year’s Ig Nobels, the prize for comical scientific achievement. Held less than a month before the actual Nobel Prizes are announced, the 34th annual Ig Nobel prize ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was organized by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine’s website to make people laugh and think. Winners received a transparent box containing historic items related to Murphy’s Law — the theme of the night — and a nearly worthless Zimbabwean $10 trillion bill. Actual Nobel laureates handed the winners their prizes. STORY Ferrites Versus Ethernet in the Ham ShackFor as useful as computers are in the modern ham shack, they also tend to be a strong source of unwanted radio frequency interference. Common wisdom says applying a few ferrite beads to things like Ethernet cables will help, but does that really work? It surely appears to, for the most part at least, according to experiments done by [Ham Radio DX]. With a particular interest in lowering the noise floor for operations in the 2-meter band, his test setup consisted of a NanoVNA and a simple chunk of wire standing in for the twisted-pair conductors inside an Ethernet cable. The NanoVNA was set to sweep across the entire HF band and up into the VHF; various styles of ferrite were then added to the conductor and the frequency response observed. Simply clamping a single ferrite on the wire helped a little, with marginal improvement seen by adding one or two more ferrites. A much more dramatic improvement was seen by looping the conductor back through the ferrite for an additional turn, with diminishing returns at higher frequencies as more turns were added. The best performance seemed to come from two ferrites with two turns each, which gave 17 dB of suppression across the tested bandwidth. The question then becomes: How do the ferrites affect Ethernet performance? [Ham Radio DX] tested that too, and it looks like good news there. Using a 30-meter-long Cat 5 cable and testing file transfer speed with iPerf, he found no measurable effect on throughput no matter what ferrites he added to the cable. In fact, some ferrites actually seemed to boost the file transfer speed slightly. Ferrite beads for RFI suppression are nothing new, of course, but it’s nice to see a real-world test that tells you both how and where to apply them. The fact that you won’t be borking your connection is nice to know, too. Then again, maybe it’s not your Ethernet that’s causing the problem, in which case maybe you’ll need a little help from a thunderstorm to track down the issue.
FRIDAY EDITION: The leaves are turning yellow and red on a lot of trees around here, seems early but probably brought about by the 28 day drought....Icom IC-V82 handheld transceivers designed for amateur radio use have been identified as the latest device to deliver deadly explosions targeting members of Hezbollah. The identification of Icom radios follows an initial attack on members of Hezbollah in which pager devices were used to deliver deadly explosions. Icom is investigating the reports of its radios being used in these attacks while Icom sales reps believe the radios identified are knock-offs. Icom is expected to release its findings on its website. The IC-V82 was discontinued in 2014. Source: Washington Post ARRL Announces Partnership with Grouper“This partnership allows us to connect more people who share a passion for amateur radio...” NEWINGTON, CT – ARRL® The National Association for Amateur Radio® is pleased to announce a partnership with Grouper, the national leader in activity benefit administration. The collaboration between ARRL and Grouper aims to enhance the health of ARRL members by providing access to benefits that support staying active and engaged. Guided by its mission of encouraging healthy living through meaningful social connections, Grouper connects its members to benefits that cover costs associated with group activities. By joining Grouper and staying connected through amateur radio, ARRL members who are 65+ and have participating Medicare Advantage or Medicare Supplement plans can unlock the activity benefit offered by these plans and receive a check in the mail to support their membership dues. “Grouper is thrilled to help support ARRL members by offering access to an activity benefit that encourages social connection,” said Doug Wenners, Grouper’s Chief Executive Officer. "This partnership is a natural fit because both organizations understand that social connection builds relationships, encourages involvement, and enhances our communities.” Grouper supports ARRL members who are eligible for the activity benefit by helping to offset membership dues and the participation costs associated with their amateur radio activities. Members are then encouraged to remain active so they can receive ongoing activity benefits. "ARRL is excited to partner with Grouper to expand opportunities for connection and learning within our community,” said ARRL Membership Manager Marc Spardello, W1NJ. “This partnership allows us to connect more people who share a passion for amateur radio through ARRL membership and ARRL Affiliated Clubs. We’ll also reach other Grouper members, inviting them to explore radio communications through ARRL and our engaged community of members.” ARRL Members:
Check Your
Eligibility for
Grouper! About
ARRL® The
National
Association for
Amateur Radio® About Grouper ARRL Philanthropist, Radar Detector Pioneer, Michael Valentine, W8MM, Silent KeyMichael “Mike” D. Valentine, W8MM, of Cincinnati, Ohio, passed away on Monday, September 16, 2024. He was 74. Mike and his wife of 51 years, Margaret “Peg” K. Valentine, have been the most generous individual supporters of ARRL The National Association of Amateur Radio. Valentine earned his amateur radio license as a teenager. “I was first licensed as WN8MSF and WA8MSF, simultaneously in the spring of my freshman year in high school, 1964. I was a combo Novice and Technician, as was customary in those days for technically proficient beginners…,” he wrote in his biography for the Quarter Century Wireless Association. His interests in amateur radio and electronics led Valentine to enter the electrical engineering program at the University of Cincinnati, where he met Peg. He was selected by the R. L. Drake Company as an engineering coop student. He would go on to work for Drake and Cincinnati Electronics after graduation in 1973. He co-founded Cincinnati Microwave, maker of Escort radar detectors. Mike and Peg founded Valentine Research in 1983. The company designs, manufactures, and sells electronic devices directly to users. Their flagship model, the Valentine One®, and the Valentine One Gen2, brought many innovations in that space, including being the first radar detector to indicate the direction of the radar device relative to the vehicle. Valentine and his products have been profiled many times in automotive enthusiast media. Together, the Valentines shared their success generously with many organizations including public television, higher education, the arts, and ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio. The Valentines are the single biggest individual donors in ARRL history. They are Millennium Class members of the ARRL Maxim Society. Mike served on the ARRL Second Century Campaign Committee, which coincided with ARRL’s Centennial in 2014. The campaign, including the Valentine Challenge Fund which matched the dollar-for-dollar contributions of other donors, established an endowment to ensure ARRL’s ongoing commitment to amateur radio. In 2023, ARRL awarded the Valentines the inaugural Mary Hobart, K1MMH, Medal of Distinction during a donor recognition event held in Dayton, Ohio. “To say that the Valentines are great philanthropists is an understatement,” said ARRL Director of Development Kevin Beal, K8EAL, in remarks he made during the award presentation. “Mike and Peg have invested significantly in supporting the future of amateur radio. They have set the example for all our donors with their philanthropic leadership.” In addition to his successful business pursuits and exceptional generosity to many organizations, Valentine could often be found cheering at University of Cincinnati Bearcats games, operating ham radio, and driving sports cars. The Cincinnati Enquirer has published a Life Story with these additional details: A visitation will be held on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, from 9:30 AM until time of funeral service at 11:00 AM, at the Covenant First Presbyterian Church, 717 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202. A reception will immediately follow in the Parish Hall. Burial will be held privately at Spring Grove Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Mike's memory to the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) or The Matthew Mangine Jr. One Shot Foundation.
THURSDAY EDITION: Check your walkie for explosives.... Japan's Icom investigating radio devices carrying its logo after Lebanon blastTOKYO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Japanese radio equipment maker Icom Inc on Thursday that it was investigating the facts regarding news reports that two-way radio devices bearing its logo have exploded in Lebanon.
Hand-held radios
used by armed
group Hezbollah detonated on
Wednesday across
Lebanon's south,
after similar
explosions of
the group's
pagers the day
before. Images
of the exploded
walkie-talkies
showed labels
with "ICOM" and
"made in Japan."
How Sony Mastered the TransistorWhen you think of Sony, you probably think of a technology company that’s been around forever. However, as [Asianometry] points out, it really formed in the tough years after World War II. The two people behind the company’s formation were an interesting pair. One of them was a visionary engineer and one was a consummate businessman. While it is hard to imagine today, securing a license to produce transistors was difficult in the early days. What’s worse is, even with the license, it was not feasible to use the crude devices in a radio. The devices were poor by today’s standards, and while transistors would work at audio frequencies for hearing aids, getting them to work at AM radio frequencies was a challenge. The Sony founders had to decide whether to use alloy transistors or grown crystal transistors. Western Electric did not want to share its crystal-growing technology, so in 1954, the team created an alloy transistor. However, it failed to work well at radio frequencies, so they shifted to growing crystals, which seemed more amenable to scaling. One of the team tried using phosphorous and indium doping and created a transistor that could work at higher frequencies. But there was a problem. Despite the transistor’s superior performance, they couldn’t make another one. Common wisdom at the time was that phosphorus doping was a dead end, but it had worked once. It just took time to find the right way to do it. By 1955, they produced usable transistors, even though the yield was at around 5%. Texas Instruments beat them to market with a transistor radio, the Regency TR-1, in 1954, but in 1955, they produced the TR-55. Of the five transistors inside, some were alloyed transistors, and some were grown crystals. The factory had to hand-select crystal transistors to make each unit work. The radios were on sale for about 19,000 yen (the TR-1 cost about 50 bucks; recall that in 1954, that was nearly $600 in today’s money). Adjusting for inflation, in today’s money, a Japanese teenager would shell out about $850 for the TR-55. The TR-55 wasn’t the first Sony radio to have transistors. The TR-52 was a prototype, but it had case problems and never made it into the hands of the public. The radio didn’t make it to the United States until 1957. By then, Texas Instruments, Raytheon, and GE all had radios available, too. It is a fascinating look into the history of an iconic electronics brand and a window into another world that, honestly, wasn’t that long ago. We couldn’t help but note similarities with Apple, who also had a businessman and engineer combination. Sony would go on to innovate in a number of areas, including optical data storage. A 1930s Ham Station
[Mikrowave1] wanted to build an authentic 1930s-style ham radio station that was portable. He’s already done a regenerative receiver, but now he’s starting on a tube transmitter that runs on batteries. He’s settled on a popular design for the time, a Jones push-pull transmitter. Despite the tubes, it will only put out a few watts, which is probably good for the batteries which, at the time, wouldn’t have been like modern batteries. You can see the kickoff video below. According to the video, these kinds of radios were popular with expeditions to exotic parts of the world. He takes a nostalgic look back at some of the radios and antennas used in some of those expeditions. The Jones oscillator originates with [Frank Jones, W6AJF] and was quite popular in the day, as he was well-known in ham radio circles then. Normally, these took a dual triode and a crystal along with some passive components. In this case, though, the transmitter will use two type 30 tubes. If you missed the series on the receiver, that’ll give you something to watch while you wait for the next installment on the transmitter. We are excited to see — and maybe hear — this station on the air. Of course, you can build simple gear today, too. You can only wonder what [Frank Jones] would think of modern software-defined radios. WEDNESDAY EDITION: The Southern Michigan Orienteering Club (SMOC) and Amateur Radio Clubs across southeastern Michigan invite you to attend the 2024 USA Radio Orienteering Championships held in the Chelsea, Michigan area this October. Watch NASA’s Solar Sail Reflect Brightly in the Night SkyNASA’s ACS3 (Advanced Composite Solar Sail System) is currently fully deployed in low Earth orbit, and stargazers can spot it if they know what to look for. It’s actually one of the brightest things in the night sky. When the conditions are right, anyway. ACS3’s sail is as thin as it is big. What conditions are those? Orientation, mostly. ACS3 is currently tumbling across the sky while NASA takes measurements about how it acts and moves. Once that’s done, the spacecraft will be stabilized. For now, it means that visibility depends on the ACS’s orientation relative to someone on the ground. At it’s brightest, it appears as bright as Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. ACS3 is part of NASA’s analysis and testing of solar sail technology for use in future missions. Solar sails represent a way of using reflected photons (from sunlight, but also possibly from a giant laser) for propulsion. This perhaps doesn’t have much in the way of raw energy compared to traditional thrusters, but offers low cost and high efficiency (not to mention considerably lower complexity and weight) compared to propellant-based solutions. That makes it very worth investigating. Solar sail technology aims to send a probe to Alpha Centauri within the next twenty years. Want to try to spot ACS3 with your own eyes? There’s a NASA app that can alert you to sighting opportunities in your local time and region, and even guide you toward the right region of the sky to look. Check it out! Blog – Hackaday Read More APRS Foundation Accepting MembershipAmateur radio operators may now support the APRS Foundation through a $20 per year membership option. Becoming a member helps secure the future of APRS and assists with the foundation's operating costs. The APRS Foundation was formed in 2022 after the passing the Bob Bruninga (WB4APR), the original steward of APRS. The foundation's goal is to preserve and advance APRS moving forward. Editor's note: For an in-depth review of the details involving the formation of the APRS Foundation and its future plans, see issue 0167 of Zero Retries. N8GNJ outlines the foundation's immediate plans to create documentation as well as the transfer of various assets such as aprs.org to the foundation. TUESDAY EDITION: A powerful solar flare spat out from the sun sparked radio blackouts across South America and the mid-Atlantic Ocean on Saturday. STORY.... NextNav’s Callous Land-Grab to Privatize 900 MHzThe 900 MHz band, a frequency range serving as a commons for all, is now at risk due to NextNav’s brazen attempt to privatize this shared resource. Left by the FCC for use by amateur radio operators, unlicensed consumer devices, and industrial, scientific, and medical equipment, this spectrum has become a hotbed for new technologies and community-driven projects. Millions of consumer devices also rely on the range, including baby monitors, cordless phones, IoT devices, garage door openers. But NextNav would rather claim these frequencies, fence them off, and lease them out to mobile service providers. This is just another land-grab by a corporate rent-seeker dressed up as innovation. EFF and hundreds of others have called on the FCC to decisively reject this proposal and protect the open spectrum as a commons that serves all. Read more – Electronic Frontier Foundation: https://bit.ly/4ekGxUj Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (whew!) Entered Mortal coil: 8 February 1745 Assumed Room Temperature: 5 March 1827 Everytime you fumble around in the dark during a power outage, cursing because the flashlight doesn't work, or are stranded because the darn car won't crank, or lose all the memories and/or operating parameters in your HF radio's volatile memory, or you are simply caught flat-footed on Christmas morning as your child cries because his new Super Destructor Evil Doom Machine is only a piece of inanimate plastic, its all because we have come to rely on a relatively ubiquitous piece of technology referred to technically as the voltaic cell. But, almost 200 years ago, this invention literally and figuratively shocked the scientific world (I apologize, this was too hard to resist!). Signore Volta was born of nobility. At the age of only 14, young Alessandro set his life's course when he decided his career would be in the field of physics, with an emphasis on electricity. By 1778, the young scientist had isolated methane in the laboratory. He should have visited a nearby cow pasture, in my opinion, for fresh samples of the gas! Volta also invented a static charge accumulator which is the basis of modern capacitors. Such was Alessandro's success in his endeavors that he was awarded the Copley Medal by the Royal Society in 1791. Greater things and discoveries, however, were to come. Back to Luigi Galvani: Volta's friend had been experimenting with the phenomena of what he termed "animal electricity." Galvani had inserted electrodes of differing metals into a frog's legs, which resulted in muscular contractions (in essence, the "frog juice" was an electrolyte). Luigi thought he was providing a path for the natural animal electricity. Volta read and discussed his friend's findings, disagreed with Luigi good-naturedly, and investigated further. Volta removed the frog, used alternating discs of copper and zinc, and inserted absorbent cardboard pads between the discs which were impregnated with a suitable solution of salts or acid. In 1800, he stacked many of these discs together, a "battery" of them, so to speak, and was greeted with success. The potential generated by only 20 of these discs was enough to inflict pain. Napolean Bonaparte requested a "command performance" of Alessandro in 1801 for a personal demonstration of the device. So impressed was the potentate with the "pile of discs" that Volta was eventually made a Count. This invention is also referred to as the voltaic pile. For Volta's work, the unit of electromotive force, the VOLT, designated by either the symbols "E" or "V" was named after him.
Space shuttle- check out the damn wiring- are you shitting me! And put a rubber band in that damn hair girl...
MONDAY EDITION: What great weather here on the island, the boat is out for the season. I got the plow mount on the truck ready to go for the winter, I am ahead of schedule...might have time for a new antenna or two, My hex beam is stored in the rear shed and I need to make new wire elements for it, I threw the old ones out planning on replacing them. I need to dig out the rotor and box and find some new connectors for the Yaesu G450, that won't be cheap....
Radio Club of America Announces 21 Award Recipients and FellowsThe Radio Club of America has announced both its annual award recipients and its incoming class of 2024 fellows. Through these awards, RCA has recognized individuals for their contributions to the wireless communications industry since 1935. This year, 13 awards will be presented while eight RCA members will be elevated to fellow status. The recipients and fellows will be honored at the 2024 RCA Awards Banquet at Westin Times Square in New York City on Nov. 23. Founded in 1909, the Radio Club of America is a 501(c)(3) organization comprised of wireless communications professionals. According to the club, its award winners are those who have dedicated significant time and talent toward the advancement of the wireless industry. Nominations are accepted from anyone in the field. Past award recipients include Edwin Armstrong, Martin Cooper, Jay Kitchen and Fred Link, among others. Find RCA’s list of 2024 award recipients and fellows below, as well as RCA’s own definition of each award. 2024 Award RecipientsDr. Goutam Chattopadhyay, Armstrong Medal This award is given to a person who has demonstrated excellence and made lasting contributions to the arts and sciences of radio. Dr. Chattopadhyay is a senior scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and an award-winning expert in microwave, millimeter-wave and terahertz technologies with over 375 publications and numerous prestigious accolades, including the NASA-JPL People Leadership Award in 2023. René Albert Stiegler III (K4EDX) (posthumously), Barry Goldwater Amateur Radio Award This award is given in recognition of unique contributions to the field of amateur radio. Stiegler was an electrical engineer and radio personality, known for founding mobile communication companies, serving as chief engineer of WABB(FM) and leading the Maritime Mobile Service Net. Tucker Dunham (KD2JPM), Carole Perry Young Professional Award This award was established to honor a young professional who was part of the RCA Youth Activities Program and has gone on to a career in wireless science. Dunham won RCA’s Young Achiever Award in 2018 and is currently studying microelectronic engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology with advancements in amateur radio digirepeaters for emergency applications to his credit. Dr. Nathan “Chip” Cohen (W1YW), Dr. Arno Penzias Award for Contributions to Basic Research in the Radio Sciences This award recognizes significant contributions to basic research involving RF and related subjects to inspire future generations of scientific professionals. Dr. Cohen is a physicist, radio astronomer and CEO of Fractal Antenna Systems, known for pioneering fractal antennas and metamaterials with over 100 technical papers, 93 patents and numerous accolades to his credit, including the RCA DeForest and Grebe Awards. Dr. James Breakall (WA3FET), Dr. Ulrich Rohde Award for Innovation in Applied Radio Science and Engineering This award recognizes significant contributions to innovation in applied radio science and engineering in the wireless industry to inspire future generations of wireless professionals. Dr. Breakall is a professor emeritus of electrical engineering at Penn State, renowned for his work in numerical electromagnetics and antenna design, including contributions to the Numerical Electromagnetics Code, the HAARP facility and the popular Skyhawk Yagi antenna. He has more than 45 years of experience and is distinguished as an RCA Life Fellow. Stanley Reubenstein (WA6RNU), Edgar F. Johnson Pioneer Citation This award recognizes long-time RCA members who have either made noteworthy contributions to the success of the club or to the radio industry. Reubenstein is a retired manufacturer’s representative and former president of RCA with a career spanning sales, marketing and leadership roles in the communications industry. He is recognized with numerous awards, including the Barry Goldwater Award and the E.F. Johnson Award. Ross Merlin, Jay Kitchen Leadership Award This award recognizes an individual with a high level of success leading a wireless association, government agency or commercial enterprise. Merlin is a retired U.S. federal government expert in emergency communications interoperability, known for creating the National Interoperability Field Operations Guide and managing programs like FEMA’s FNARS and the SHARES HF radio program. Professor Dr. Morimi Awama, Lee de Forest Award This award is presented to an individual who has made significant contributions to the advancement of radio communications. Dr. Awama, a former executive at AT&T Bell Laboratories, has a long publication record in technical journals and studies for the U.S. Department of Defense and played an important role in developing emerging communication technologies, including contributions to the Telstar Project. Dr. Robert Wilson, Lifetime Achievement Award Through this award, the RCA Board of Directors recognize an individual’s body of work accomplished over a lifetime toward the art and science of wireless technology. Dr. Wilson, as a physicist and radio astronomer, contributed to radio astronomy at Caltech and Bell Laboratories. He earned the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics with his colleague Arno Penzias for their 1964 cosmic microwave radiation discovery. Mike Molnar, Ralph Batcher Award This award is presented to an RCA member for their significant work in preserving the history of radio and electronic communications. Molnar has been designing gamma cameras for veterinary diagnostics since 1984, while researching and writing about radio history, earning him the AWA’s Robert Murray Award in 2021. Charles Kirmuss, RCA President’s Award The RCA President uses this award to select an individual who has demonstrated dedication to the work of the club. Kirmuss has contributed advancements to digital video, audio recording and first responder-aiding GPS technology. His company, Kirmuss Audio, is recognized as uniquely capable of producing a process and machine that cleans and restores recording grooves. Alan Spindel (AG4WK), RCA Special Services Award This award recognizes a club member who has performed significant work to advance its goals and objectives. Spindel is the senior electrical engineer at Global HF and has over 20 years of telecom experience developing digital HF radio modems and automating large-scale HF radio systems. Evelyn Torres-Gomez, Wireless Innovation Award This award recognizes an individual who is creating a new concept or product that is currently in use in the wireless industry. Torres-Gomez is the founder and CEO of Solaris Technologies Services — an award-winning telecommunications manufacturing company known for high-capacity mobile tower solutions — with multiple patents to her credit. Mario A. Vulcano, USN Captain George P McGinnis Memorial Award This award recognizes service and dedication to the advancement and preservation of U.S. Naval Cryptology, as nominated by the U.S. Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association. Vulcano served 22 years in the U.S. Navy as a cryptologist and instructor, followed by a civilian career teaching cryptologic warfare, receiving numerous military and civilian awards. 2024 RCA FellowsElevation to fellow is made by invitation to members who are in good standing for at least five years, in recognition of their contributions to the art and science of radio communications, broadcast or to RCA. The following RCA members are elevated to fellow status in 2024: Michael Kalter (W8CI) Kalter has experience as president and COO of Behm Quartz Industries and is an avid supporter of amateur radio. He led the restructuring of the Dayton Hamvention. Becky Neugent Neugent, a public-safety professional since 1997, has overseen the installation of public safety radio dispatch systems and served in various leadership roles within APCO International, including her current role as the 911 Director for Autauga County, Ala. She was named the 88th President of APCO International in August 2023. Stephen Nichols Nichols is the executive director of the Project 25 (P25) Technology Interest Group with over 30 years of experience in land mobile and public safety radio. He led business development for Thales Defense and Security’s P25 product lines and earned the RCA’s Edgar F. Johnson Pioneer Citation. Howard Rosen (VE2AED) Rosen is a self-taught inventor and entrepreneur with over 83 patents, including the first video compact disk and various innovations in electronics, RF technology and medical systems. Dr. Julio Urbina Dr. Urbina is a full professor of electrical engineering at Penn State specializing in radar design, radio wave remote sensing and space instrumentation. He was selected as a Fulbright Scholar for 2024-25. WEEKEND EDITION: Amateur Radio Newsline Report SCIENTISTS TO REVISE SOLAR STORM ASSESSMENT STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We begin this week with solar storms, something we amateurs have had more than our share of this year. In the US, scientists are looking to update the way they assess solar weather's impact here on Earth and even in space. Travis Lisk N3ILS has those details. TRAVIS: US scientists in the Space Weather Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are collaborating with the National Weather Service to update the way solar storms and other space weather is classified. According to an article on the space.com website, the scientists recognize that new knowledge about geomagnetic storms and recent advances in technology require them to revisit ways they look at space weather and its impact on the Earth and human space travel. The Space Weather Prediction Center's program coordinator, Bill Murtagh, explained the need for change during an interview with space.com, saying [quote] "The user base and needs have changed, the capabilities, the science and our understanding of the science  — a lot has changed. And the scales for all practical purposes have not changed, and they need to." [endquote] Some current scale categories for geomagnetic storms reflect impact on power grids and spacecraft operations, for instance, and others focus on the radio blackouts that have a serious impact on HF radio and navigation systems. This is Travis Lisk N3ILS. (SPACE.COM) ** LAUNCH DELAYED FOR AMSAT-DL'S ERMINAZ PAYLOAD STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The launch of AMSAT-DL's latest payload was delayed until next year because the original first stage of the rocket unexpectedly became compromised. We hear the details from Jeremy Boot G4NJH. JEREMY: The launch of AMSAT-DL's ERMINAZ payload has been moved to next year, following what is being called a "serious anomaly" that resulted in a loss of the first rocket stage. The incident took place on the 19th August during the test by Rocket Factory Augsburg at the SaxaVord Spaceport on the Shetland Islands. Rocket Factory Augsburg said it would take time to work on a new first rocket stage after repair work, fault analysis and qualification. AMSAT-DL, AMSAT-EA and the Libre Space Foundation are working together on the mission. The payloads include two PocketQubes from AMSAT-EA. The satellites will be using the amateur callsign AM1HAD allowing hams around the world to make contacts on FM or digital modes such as FT-4, FT-8 and AX.25/APRS. This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH. (AMSAT NEWS) ** PENNSYLVANIA HAM CLUB MARKS CENTENNIAL OF HISTORIC RAILROAD STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A radio club in eastern Pennsylvania plans to make some history of its own as it celebrates a very special centennial involving an iconic name recognized by railroad buffs around the world. Mark Abramowicz NT3V(Abram-o-vich) has the story from Reading [REDDING], Pennsylvania. MARK: The Reading Radio Club is preparing to honor the 100th anniversary of the historic Reading Railroad with two special event stations on Saturday, September 21st. For the first time ever, the group will activate club call signs W3BN and W3CCH simultaneously in separate operations 25 miles apart. The big, daylong celebration will see club members use W3CCH on two HF stations set up inside two retired passenger railroad cars parked outside the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum in Hamburg, Pennsylvania. Another group of club operators and friends will use W3BN on two HF stations that belonged to longtime contester Steve Dobbs NE3F in Spring Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Regrettably, Steve – who was extensively involved in the planning for the celebration using his station and array of towers, beams and wire antennas – died on August 30th following a short illness. It was his family’s wish that the event still proceed from his QTH. Activity on all four HF radios will be on 10, 15, 20, 40 and 80 meters with frequent spots on the DX clusters. The railroad earned its place in history starting in the 1830s as the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. For more on this special celebration and the available certificate, check out details at either W3BN or W3CCH on QRZ-dot.com. I'm Mark Abramowicz NT3V ** CANADIAN TEENS GAIN LICENSES AFTER HAM RADIO COURSEWORK STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In many parts of the world, school is back in session and regular lessons have resumed. Even before regular classes began, however, 21 teenagers in British Columbia, Canada, were already entrenched in some pretty important homework - or should we say hamwork? Andy Morrison K9AWM has those details. ANDY: Adam, VE7ZAL, and John, VE7TI, believe that their recent course on radio frequencies and electronics may well be unprecedented for secondary school students in Canada. That was what John wrote in the September/October issue of The Communicator, the magazine of Surrey Amateur Radio Communications. John and Adam, a robotics teacher at Kwantlen Park Secondary school in Surrey, British Columbia, teamed up to help nearly two dozen 13- through 17-year-olds get a better grasp on the principles behind amateur radio and pass the gift of radio on this next generation. By the time the course concluded, the students were able to sit the exam for the Canadian Amateur Radio Certificate. John wrote that Adam had proposed the idea for the course earlier in the year and that while the instruction progressed, the students' enthusiasm grew gradually with each session. He wrote: [quote]: "Throughout the course, we witnessed students experiencing significant revelations about the pervasive role of radio in our daily lives." [endquote] POTA, satellite communications and high-altitude balloons were - literally - among the high points of the lessons. When the sessions ended, the tradition of a Thursday night "Get on the Air" net kept the momentum going for the graduates. John and Adam hope to repeat the course next year. This is Andy Morrison K9AWM. (THE SARC COMMUNICATOR) ** AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM REOPENS AS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SHOWCASE STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A museum in Australia that once gave history lessons about the evolution of the telephone is preparing to reopen as a showcase of telecommunications. Jason Daniels VK2LAW takes a look inside for us. JASON: In Melbourne, a 1939 building that once housed a telephone exchange and, in 2003 a telecommunications museum, is reopening this month as the National Communications Museum at Hawthorn. The big day is the 21st of September. When the doors open, visitors will get a vast range of the past and present technologies used in communications throughout Australia. The building had formerly been home to the Victorian Telecommunications Museum, which was run entirely by volunteers from the Australian Historic Telephone Society until the museum's closure in 2019. According to its website, the new museum has inherited some of its collection from its predecessor. Emily Siddons, co-CEO and artistic director, writes on the website that the genesis of the building's design and planning occurred during COVID lockdown with the purpose of exploring human relationships with technology. She writes: [quote] "Ethical exploration of the development of new technologies has never been more urgent, especially given the rapid pace at which they are developing." [endquote] This is Jason Daniels VK2LAW (WIA, NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS MUSEUM WEBSITE) ** SRI LANKAN GIRL GUIDES FIND POWER IN HAM RADIO STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Girl Guides in Sri Lanka got some guidance themselves recently from the Radio Society of Sri Lanka, which helped them get on the air. John Williams VK4JJW tells us how it happened. JOHN: The International Girl Guide Camp that concluded on the 23rd of August left a lasting mark on two thousand Girl Guides from Sri Lanka's nine provinces and showcased the power of amateur radio for them all. The Radio Society of Sri Lanka was there in Ceylon to conduct demonstrations and to help the girls' hands-on experience with radio. Society volunteers ensured there would be radio capability by setting up for HF, VHF and Echolink communications. The radio society considered it a milestone for the camp with the Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association getting on the air with an amateur radio club licence of its own through the help of society secretary Victor 4S7VK. The Girl Guides were calling QRZ as 4S7GGA. This is John Williams VK4JJW. ** WEST BENGAL HAMS HELP PREPARE POLICE FOR DISASTER STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Police personnel in West Bengal, India sharpened their disaster-communications skills recently with the help of some seasoned amateur radio mentors. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF brings us that story. JIM: Kolkata police and more than two dozen sub-inspectors of state received an introduction to the ways amateur radio can assist them when catastrophic events leave conventional means of communication disabled. The one-day session in late August at the police training centre in Salt Lake was taught by hams from the West Bengal Radio Club. The session was part of a broader three-day training program on disaster management for police personnel. The officers also learned what laws govern amateur radio activities and how the laws would apply to their on-air activities. They were reminded that hams need a licence from the Ministry of Telecommunication. More training programmes will be scheduled for the police personnel to bring them closer to getting that licence. This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF. (MILLENNIUM POST) ** NOMINATIONS NEEDED FOR HONORS AT CINCINNATI HAMFEST STEPHEN/ANCHOR: If you know of a club in the Great Lakes Region or the Ohio Valley region of the US that has distinguished itself in support of amateur radio, now is the time to let everybody know. Dave Parks WB8ODF tells us how. DAVE: The next Cincinnati Hamfest is still almost a year away but organizers are wasting no time in finding a deserving group of amateurs to receive the award for Great Lakes Region Club of the Year. To be eligible, a club must be located within the Great Lakes region of Kentucky, Ohio or Michigan. Most importantly, clubs that are nominated must demonstrate a passion for amateur radio and be active in its advancement. Cincinnati Hamfest also presents an award for Club of the Year among nominees located within the Ohio Valley region of Indiana, Kentucky or Ohio. Nomination forms for both awards are available at the hamfest website, cincinnatihamfest - that's one word - dot org. (cincinnatihamfest.org) Cincinnati Hamfest won't be happening until August 9th, 2025 but the months ahead will go quickly, so consider who you might want to nominate for these honors. This is Dave Parks WB8ODF. (QRZ.COM, CINCINNATI HAMFEST) ** WORLD OF DX Two separate activations are on the air in the UK from Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands. Tev, TA1HZ, is active as MJ/TA1HZ through to the 16th of September and will participate in the WAE DX SSB Contest on the 14th and 15th. See QRZ.com for QSL details, Meanwhile, listen as well for the two-person team of Peter, ON8ZZ and Fred, ON8ZL, on the air from the 13th through to the 15th of September. Their call sign is MJ/OT9Z. The pair will be calling on 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metres. Fred will participate in the WAE DX SSB Contest . QSL via ON8ZL. Listen for 4V1SAVANNAH, the callsign being used by the Radio Club d'Haiti to commemorate the 245th anniversary of the Battle of Savannah in 1779, during the American Revolution. Hundreds of volunteers from the French colony that later became Haiti fought alongside members of the colonial military against the British Army. The special event will take place from the 16th of September through to the 20th of October. QSL via N2OO (EN TWO OH OH), The Belgrade Amateur Radio Club is using the callsign YT 100 RB to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Radio Belgrade. A certificate is available. Visit the website yu1ano [Y U One A N O] dot org (yu1ano.org) for details. (425 DX BULLETIN, WIA) ** KICKER: A NEW JEWEL IN A SOTA QUEEN'S CROWN STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Our final story is about SOTA -- Summits on the Air -- and the achievement that became possible this summer for one YL -- in memory of another. We hear about them both from Ralph Squillace KK6ITB. RALPH: In a recent posting on the SOTA Reflector, Amy AG7GP, shared a thought from Ron Burns, NR3E, as he described his late wife's can-do attitude: [quote] "There are no real hurdles in life, only those that you imagine. Liz was proof that you can do anything you want, no matter what life hands you." [endquote] Ron and his wife, Liz K1LIZ, shared many challenging SOTA activations and hunts until she became a Silent Key in February of 2022. Liz, who was blind for more than three decades, had recently achieved the coveted SOTA standing of Mountain Goat. The organizers of the inaugural Queens of the Mountains YL SOTA event this past June have added a new jewel to the crown of one Queen of those same mountains: They call the honor the K1LIZ Memorial Achievement Award. It was conferred recently on Lorene W6LOR. Announcing the honor on the SOTA Reflector in a September 7th post, Amy AG7GP praised Lorene for her events during that June weekend. Lorene was presented with a personalized beverage glass. Amy wrote that the honor was being given [quote] "in memory of Liz's indomitable spirit that inspired so many." [endquote] Queen Lorene's glass is not half-full - it is brimming over with the spirit of a beloved fellow activator who knew that summits were never meant to be hurdles, only opportunities to showcase excellence. FRIDAY EDITION: Yet another day in paradise here on Cape Ann, it's almost time to pull the boat out of the harbor. I used it once this summer....It wasn't long ago that Alpha was the amp to own, now iot appears the Mercury Lux is the way to go today and it's American made. Is That Antenna Allowed? The Real Deal on the FCCs OTARD RuleThe Hackaday comments section is generally a lively place. At its best, it’s an endless wellspring of the combined engineering wisdom of millions of readers which serves to advance the state of the art in hardware hacking for all. At its worst — well, let’s just say that at least it’s not the YouTube comments section. Unfortunately, there’s also a space between the best and the worst where things can be a bit confusing. A case in point is [Bryan Cockfield]’s recent article on a stealth antenna designed to skirt restrictions placed upon an amateur radio operator by the homeowners’ association (HOA) governing his neighborhood. Hiding an antenna in plain sight. Putting aside the general griping about the legal and moral hazards of living under an HOA, as well as the weirdly irrelevant side-quest into the relative combustibility of EVs and ICE cars, there appeared to be a persistent misapprehension about the reality of the US Federal Communications Commission’s “Over-the-Air Reception Devices” rules. Reader [Gamma Raymond] beseeched us to clarify the rules, lest misinformation lead any of our readers into the unforgiving clutches of the “golf cart people” who seem to run many HOAs. According to the FCC’s own OTARD explainer, the rules of 47 CFR § 1.400 are intended only to prevent “governmental and nongovernmental restrictions on viewers’ ability to receive video programming signals” (emphasis added) from three distinct classes of service: direct satellite broadcasters, broadband radio service providers, and television broadcast services. Specifically, OTARD prevents restrictions on the installation, maintenance, or use of antennas for these services within limits, such as dish antennas having to be less than a meter in diameter (except in Alaska, where dishes can be any size, because it’s Alaska) and restrictions on where antennas can be placed, for example common areas (such as condominium roofs) versus patios and balconies which are designated as for the exclusive use of a tenant or owner. But importantly, that’s it. There are no carve-outs, either explicit or implied, for any other kind of antennas — amateur radio, scanners, CB, WiFi, Meshtastic, whatever. If it’s not about getting TV into your house in some way, shape, or form, it’s not covered by OTARD. It goes without saying that we are not lawyers, and this is not to be construed as legal advice. If you want to put a 40′ tower with a giant beam antenna on your condo balcony and take on your HOA by stretching the rules and claiming that slow-scan TV is a “video service,” you’re on your own. But a plain reading of OTARD makes it clear to us what is and is not allowed, and we’re sorry to say there’s no quarter for radio hobbyists in the rules. This just means you’re going to need to be clever about your antennas. Or, you know — move. ARRL Defends 902-928 Amateur Radio BandARRL® The National Association for Amateur Radio® has filed comments [PDF] with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging that the 902 – 928 MHz amateur radio band be protected. ARRL joins hundreds of licensed radio amateurs who utilize the band in opposing a proposal from NextNav Inc., a licensee in the 900-MHz Location and Monitoring Service (LMS), to completely reconfigure the 902 – 928 MHz band and replace the LMS with high-powered 5G cellular and related location services. Read more about NextNav’s proposal on ARRL News (8/15/2024) ARRL’s comments, filed by our Washington, D.C. Counsel on behalf of ARRL members and radio amateurs, point out several problems with NextNav’s request. “Contrary to NextNav’s assertions, the band is extremely crowded with millions of devices and transmitters in operation in multiple services, including the Amateur Service. Adoption of the proposal would result in either massive interference that would prevent proper operation or displacement to other bands. The difficulty is that there are no other bands known to be available, and in fact, some of the Amateur operations in this band are here because they were displaced when a portion of the 420 – 450 MHz band North of “Line A” was closed to the Amateur Service some years ago. Others were displaced from the same band when new Federal Government defense radars were initiated and continued Amateur secondary operations would have interfered with their operation.” Pushing amateur radio out of heavily used spectrum is a risk to public service, ARRL argues in the comments. “When space can be found in this band, Amateurs employ it to establish wide-area voice and some television signal repeaters. Others are actively experimenting with digital mesh networks and associated control links. These networks are a testbed for digital design and experimentation, but also are available and used for back-up emergency communications purposes. Still others operate low power beacons for propagation research. Weak signal work – tuning and experimenting to communicate over the longest paths with the least power – also is popular and leads to improvements in equipment.” Mesh networks are becoming increasingly useful in emergency communications. Just this past week, the ARRL Utah Section announced that dozens of Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) volunteers are working to expand the mesh network around the state. “The needs of participating agencies have evolved to require more than analog voice and low-speed data modes,” said ARRL Utah Section Public Information Coordinator Scott Rosenbush, K7HSR. “High-speed mesh networks using AREDN® [Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network] software will allow amateur radio to play a larger role in supporting these agencies in emergencies.” The ARRL Utah Section already has a five-county mesh network in place. The proposal from NextNav make it more difficult to operate networks like this one. “Under NextNav’s proposal, the much higher-powered transmitters would be ubiquitous and operating 24/7. The resulting interference would effectively exclude many of the current Amateur operations that are operating in the 902-928 MHz band.” The FCC docket remains open for reply comments from the public until September 20, 2024. As of September 6, over 800 comments have been filed by Amateurs and others who use this spectrum. The comments can be viewed at this link: https://tinyurl.com/ypxh583p. Click here for an ARRL Guide to Filing Comments with FCC. THURSDAY EDITION: 911 seemed to be forgotten by the tv media yesterday...Good time to turn on your radio gear and work some dx on 10-15 meters with the added benefit you won't have to listen to the bullshit spewing out of the media about the presidential race.... Geomagnetic storm expected to disrupt radio transmissions on September 12-13A geomagnetic storm is forecasted to occur on September 12-13, potentially causing interruptions in radio signal transmissions, the Astrophysics Department at the Physics Faculty of Baku State University told Report. The increased solar activity, attributed to continuous M-class flares, has elevated the Sun’s activity to a high level. These flares are known to block and hinder the propagation of radio waves. A coronal mass ejection (CME) from the northwest part of the Sun on September 10 is expected to trigger the geomagnetic storm on Earth, starting from the afternoon of September 12 and lasting until approximately 18:00 (GMT+4) on September 13. During this period, disruptions in the transmission and reception of radio signals may occur. Currently, the geomagnetic field is quiet but unstable. The effects of the CME will become apparent on Earth between September 12 and 13. The geomagnetic storm is predicted to reach G1 (mild) levels on the night of September 12, escalate to G2 (moderate) levels until 08:00 (GMT+4) on September 13, and then return to G1 levels until 20:00. Following this, the geomagnetic field is expected to stabilize and return to a quiet state.911 WEDNESDAY EDITION: Coffee and donuts this morning at the club, all are welcome....
DIPOLE DAY - SATURDAY - SEPT 21. 2024- 11 AM
Our next Radio Active Cape Ann event will be Dipole Day. If you never made an antenna this will be a great place to start. Beware, after making one antenna it is easy to get obsessed.
We have enough material prepared to make ten dipoles from 20m on up. I have prepared insulators, connectors, reels, and lines. I have about 200’ of wire. If you have wire you wish to use, by all means bring it along.
You will measure the wire and cut it to length then assemble the pieces and test it. A couple of taps with a soldering iron and you’re in business. Again, if you never soldered anything, here’s a good place to start. Equipment and instruction will be available. If it is a nice day we will set up a radio and make contacts with your new antenna. If it is raining we will work out of the garage,
668 Washington St, Gloucester
Sept 21 at 11 AM
Francine UpdatesFrancine update September 10, 2024 Noon Eastern: ARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, just participated in a call with the National Weather Service Shreveport, Louisiana Field Office. "Our partners at NWS are closely monitoring the situation and preparing Louisiana for multiple possibilities, that each could change as the situation unfolds," he said. ARRL members and Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) volunteers in the path of the storm should prepare for impacts. The National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida reports this morning that tropical storm Francine is likely to become a hurricane today, Tuesday September 10, 2024. A hurricane warning has been extended eastward along the Louisiana coast. The storm is now about 125 miles southeast of the mouth of the Rio Grande river and 395 miles south-southwest of Ca Remember to call in to the CHOTA stations on Saturday
Next Saturday, the 14 September, lots of amateur radio stations will be on the air to take part in the Churches and Chapels on the Air event, also known as CHOTA. The event will take place from 10am to 4pm and operation will be focused on the 80, 40 and 20m bands. To see the […] Radio Society of Great Britain – Main Site – Read More
Asheville Radio Museum reopens in a larger locationThe specialty museum now has more space for you to learn about the history of radio in Asheville. The grand reopening will begin at 10:30 a.m. this Saturday, and the Vintage Radio Market will run from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission to both events is free — find specific directions and parking info. Pro tip: If you’re planning on visiting the radio museum’s new space, why not make it a day full of history? The Asheville Museum of History is just a short walk away, housed inside the Smith-McDowell house, the oldest brick structure in Buncombe County. Through permanent and rotating exhibits, the museum offers an expansive view of our region’s history and all of the communities that have contributed to it. TUESDAY EDITION: Beautiful weather here in New England, great time of year to get some antenna work done....I found a very noisy power transformer close to our repeater site at the cell tower. The question is what will National Grid do about it? It is raising havoc with our two meter repeater but not the 440 one. I will start calling this morning and see where it gets me....It's our pleasure to announce a special event station in the Nijmegen region commemorating 80 years of freedom: PA80OMG. We are back again in 2024 for the fourth consecutive time with this special event station, since last time we added another 5 years to our callsign. We commemorate and celebrate 80 years of freedom. The activities of our special event station will take place from 13 September up to 19 September 2024. WEB ADDRESS Amid wildfires and spotty cell service, Northstate residents turn to ham radios (California)The Northstate is no stranger to disasters or bad reception, but when a phone call isn’t able to go through, a ham radio may just be able to get you the help you need. “I’m up east of Redding and when the phone system goes out, we don’t have a connection to 911 but the ham radio still works and I can get a hold of somebody somewhere,” said Bob Frampton Secretary of Western Amateur Radio Repeater and Echolink Association Inc. otherwise known as WARREA. In the age of phones and Wi-Fi, some can take the ease of connecting to the rest of the world for granted, but head even 20 minutes into the mountains from cities like Redding, Red Bluff, and Chico, and you’ll quickly lose cell phone service. “Cell phone service up here, especially when you get outside the Redding area, the developed areas, is spotty at best. There’s a lot of times where I can get a hold of somebody on the ham radio, I won’t get a hold of over the cell phone,” said Frampton. Read more – KRCR: https://bit.ly/3MCX7Tu Ham radio operators to work from Blennerhassett Island (West Virginia)The Parkersburg Amateur Radio Klub will activate a Parks on the Air radio station from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday on Blennerhassett Island. The event will make history and reflect on the history of the club, club officials said. The group will be the first amateur radio club to operate from the island, and ham radio operators will have the opportunity to register a two-way communication and gain awards. “Blennerhassett Amateur Radio Club was the original name of our club back in the 1940s. So, the outing to the island reflects, in part, our own history as the Parkersburg Amateur Radio Klub and ham operators in the Mid-Ohio Valley,” club member Corey Meadows of Williamstown said. Read more – Marietta Times: https://bit.ly/4gjNsic MONDAY EDITION: Late start today, still out chasing rf noise at the site, seems we have several sources of rf interfering with us... How amateur radio operators keep Lee County connected during disastersFORT MYERS, Fla. —Losing power, phone lines, and internet service during a hurricane can be both frustrating and dangerous, leaving many people feeling helpless. However, there’s a dedicated group in Lee County working tirelessly to maintain communication even when traditional systems fail. NBC2 First Alert Meteorologist Rob Duns sheds light on this essential group: Lee County's Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES). Within the Lee County Emergency Operations Center lies the Amateur Radio Room. While the room itself is modest in size, its impact is significant. According to Rich Schneiders, who coordinates Lee County ARES, the motto of the group is clear: "When all else fails, Amateur Radio." Schneiders explains that while internet and phone lines might collapse during a disaster, amateur radios can continue to function as long as they have battery power. Lee County ARES is comprised of volunteer amateur radio operators who step up during emergencies. Volunteers like Carmine Vitrano, Steven Clayton, and Don Domina are critical to the operation. Vitrano recounts how, in past emergencies, he was the sole means of communication, relaying vital messages in real-time. Clayton echoes this sentiment, noting the importance of their role in maintaining communication lines. Domina adds that their work often serves as a backup communication link between shelters and the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Although these volunteers may not be visible to the general public during an emergency, their efforts are invaluable. Positioned in evacuation shelters and communities across Lee County, they use reliable ham radios to ensure communication remains intact when conventional methods fail. “We need to man as many shelters as we can,” Schneiders says. “We’re committed to working with Lee EOC EM to do that and give back to the community that gives to us all the time.” During hurricanes, volunteers like Vitrano, Clayton, and Domina play a pivotal role in relaying information from various locations in the county to the Amateur Radio Room. From there, the information is forwarded to the county’s emergency management team, ensuring that critical updates and coordination continue even in the most challenging conditions. “When you start seeing this person-level when you can help people directly and you see the impacts, it really tugs at your heart,” Vitrano said. The dedication of Lee County ARES is evident, and they are currently looking for new members to join their ranks and support their mission. In times of disaster, while modern communication systems might falter, the steadfast reliability of amateur radio operators ensures that Lee County remains connected, proving that sometimes old-school technology is the most dependable. Hams Respond as Hawaii Threatened by Three Major StormsIn late August, Hawaii’s big island was threatened by three major tropical storms and amateur radio operators were prepared to assist as the threat grew more intense. Russell Roberts, KH6JRM, Public Information Officer, Hawaii County, ARRL Pacific Section, said that beginning August 23, storm watches and warnings were being issued for tropical storms Hone, Gilma, and Hector, all churning off the island’s southern coast. By August 31 and September 1, Hone had become a Category 1 hurricane with winds over 75 miles per hour (MPH), occasional gusts to 100 MPH and heavy rain. Gilma was next as a Category 1, but later intensified to a Category 3 hurricane, dropping 28 inches of rain which flooded roads, along with high winds that brought down trees, power and communications lines. “We had 3 Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) operators on the net for about 24 hours beginning August 30 and they handled 41 contacts,” said Roberts. “Some repeaters were out of fuel, so we switched to HF to pass traffic and assess the damage.” The storms never made landfall and while there were no fatalities or injuries, the damage was severe. Nearly 30,000 residents were affected. Power is still out for over 200 customers, cleanup and road repair are active. “We were very fortunate,” said Roberts. “There was concern a fire warning would need to be issued for several parts of the island. But the approaching weather brought rain and lowered temperatures.” National Preparedness Month: Have a Go KitSeptember is National Preparedness Month, and ARRL is working to help radio amateurs have a plan for family resilience. Many hams enjoy public service as part of their operating. Being ready to activate for a served agency through the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) involves not only being licensed and trained, but also prepared and equipped. ARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, suggests that hams and their families have a “go-bag”. He says there are a few things to consider: “You need to be able to function while activated, so that means you need a kit for your needs and a kit for your radio needs. If your family is impacted by the situation, they also need to have some gear at the ready.” On the ARRL website, there’s an Emergency Prep Kit Checklist. It lists the common items such as food and water for several days, a first aid kit, medications, chargers for your devices and other useful items. Having a kit for your radio is useful as well. “Go kits will vary based on function and need for the field,” said Johnston. “Most kits should include a dual band HT and/or mobile radio with antenna, a power supply and all necessary cables and connectors. Every kit should include note pad or paper of some type as well as pens or pencils. You should have a power source and power cables. If you are working HF then you will need an HF radio and antenna, and if you want digital capabilities, then a computer with software preloaded will be desired.” Other things you may want will include tape and tools, spare batteries, headphones, flashlights of some sort, cell phone chargers, and a multimeter. Other items that won’t fit in a bag but may be needed include a generator, a working surface like a small folding table, a chair, and some type of shelter. WEEKEND EDITION: As you have probably read here, we spent $8000 replacing the 2 meter repeater antenna and hardline and now we have another problem. We have a S5 broadband noise interfering with our repeater that we need to track down and get remedied asap....My solution is to get the Yaesu 897 at the club and put it on frequency in the AM mode, connect a little directional antenna and go fox hunting. Now to find some volunteers at the club... Local Radio Club provides emergency communication, connects radio enthusiasts
In an era where digital communication reigns supreme, the Piedmont Amateur Radio Club (PARC) still serves as a vital and vibrant hub for radio enthusiasts and emergency communication services. The club’s mission extends beyond casual radio operation; it is essential in the community’s emergency preparedness network, offering an extra lifeline in times of crisis. For member Hal Reid, radio is more than just a hobby. It’s a passion deeply rooted in family tradition. Reid’s interest in radio began with his father, who was both a ham radio operator and commercial radio operator. Reid eventually passed his father’s passion for radio to his wife and five kids who are all licensed amateur radio operators. “Growing up, we had radios and that sort of thing ... it was just kind of a natural transition,” said Reid. Since moving to the Milledgeville community, Reid has been an active member of the Piedmont Amateur Radio Club for more than 20 years. The Piedmont Amateur Radio club, established more than 30 years ago, contains a thriving community of radio enthusiasts from across from Putman County and surrounding areas. A significant part of the club’s success can be attributed to its facilities, including an antenna site located east of Eatonton. The site, initially leased for a dollar per year, was later purchased by a club member. The property spans two acres with a 185-foot tower, several buildings, and array of radios. One of the club’s latest editions is a satellite station, which allows club members to communicate with people from all over. The PARC sustains its activities through a combination of membership dues and donations of surplus equipment. Additionally, the club’s membership varies from highly-technical individuals like engineers to those who are interested in ham radio as a hobby. Other members are drawn by the reliability of ham radio communication in emergency situations. “We’ve got probably 20% that are very technical people that have worked in communications,” said Reid. “We have a couple people who are engineers, and then we have what I guess you might call the ‘average bear,’ which is somebody who’s just interested in radio because it’s fun.” The club offers a wide range of activities and learning opportunities, including satellite communication, digital modes, and even moon bounce. “Moon bounce ham radio operators have been bouncing signals off the moon since the mid-‘50s,” said Reid. “But it’s not a simple thing to do. It takes a lot of technology, a lot of a certain amount of engineering, perhaps, but it’s one of those things we just thought it might be fun to do.” Another aspect of the PARC is deep community involvement, especially when it comes to emergency services. The club operates one of the most advanced Winlink systems in Georgia, allowing email communication over radio signals. With six stations operating 24/7 on different frequencies, the system plays a crucial role during emergencies for when traditional forms of communication are not available. “Every time there’s a hurricane, we get a lot of traffic, often messages from people letting family know they’re OK,” said Reid. “The system is quite robust, with some stations running on solar power and built-in redundancy if the internet goes down.” In addition to emergency preparedness, the club participates in several community events. One such event is Spin for Kids bicycle in Madison, where the club provides communication support for flat tires or other mechanical issues. The profits for the event funds camp experiences for children with serious illnesses, disabilities, or other life challenges. The club will take part in a nationwide exercise called Simulated Emergency Test (SET) in early October. The test will be in collaboration with American Radio Relay League (ARRL), giving hospitals a chance to test their preparedness for emergency communications. The PARC currently provides emergency communication services for St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital in Greene County, as well as Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin in Baldwin County, Jasper Memorial Hospital in Jasper County and Putnam General Hospital in Putnam County. They also offer their services to Central Georgia K9 Search & Rescue Team. Club meetings, which are open to the public, take place every second Saturday of each month at the tower site located at 234 Wesley Chapel Road in Eatonton. The meetings include regular club business, followed by a presentation on a topic related to amateur radio. For more information on how to get involved or obtain a radio license, visit the Piedmont Amateur Radio Club’s website at k4par.org. Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2445INFORMAL RADIO NETWORK AIDS BANGLADESH FLOOD RESCUE JIM/ANCHOR: Our top story takes us to Bangladesh where one amateur's distress call led to an informal but highly effective network of rescue communicators. Graham Kemp VK4BB describes the scene. GRAHAM: In Bangladesh, an informal group of community-based hams mobilised to provide vital communication in the region surrounding Feni district following deadly floods that began on the 19th of August. Hams in the capital city of Dhaka rallied to assist after hearing from a fellow amateur via social media that he was trapped by rising water levels with no emergency response in sight. Abdullah Al Fahad, S21AF, stayed in touch with the amateur and monitored his situation while alerting other area hams. He said in an email: [quote] "We knew we had to act quickly." [endquote] Traditional means of communication were down. By the 22nd of August, the team's base station was set up at a 15-story building in Feni and a control room established at the office of Feni's deputy commissioner. There, the first group of amateur radio responders coordinated with the office of the deputy commissioner to help in the deployment of rescue and relief teams. Many hams continued to join the effort, bringing along their own personal equipment so the response network could extend its reach. Stations were set up at two army camps so that the deputy commissioner had communication with the army and field rescue teams. Fahad said that another base was set up at a scout headquarters in Dhaka and still another at his QTH. Over a four-day period the hams kept communication open across a 70-kilometer radius. It was estimated that they helped bring more than 375 rescue operations to fruition - some in remote areas. With flood water receding, authorities in Bangladesh have since turned their attention to the spread of waterborne illnesses. Some of the hams moved on to assist the flood situation in Noakhali. Fahad told the website, tbsnews.net [quote]: "Even though we weren’t under any official banner, just a group of friends doing what we could, we made a real difference." [endquote] The amateur who had sent out the original distress call to Fahad was rescued after four days. This is Graham Kemp VK4BB. (TBS NEWS NET, INDIA TODAY, ABDULLAH AL FAHAD S21AF) ** RASPBERRY PI SEEN AS KEY IN UNDERWATER TRANSMISSION JIM/ANCHOR: Scientists are hopeful that a Raspberry Pi may be a key component in making underwater communication more effective. Jeremy Boot G4NJH has that story. JEREMY: A Raspberry Pi is being used as one of three main components of a modem that is under development by researchers in Italy to make underwater communications more effective and less expensive. As described in a recent article in the IEEE (EYE Triple E) Spectrum, the Raspberry Pi is the modem's base. There is also a sound card hardware attachment which generates and records audio signals. For undersea operations, most modems use acoustical signals instead of radio because despite the slower rate at which they move, these signals can cover greater distances. Researchers at the University of Padova believe the modem will be a much more affordable alternative for communication with submarines, sensors or other entities. According to the Spectrum article, current modems typically cost at least ten thousand US dollars. The researchers, Filippo Campagnaro and Michele Zorzi, are also developing a transducer for conversion of energy into acoustic signals and back again. Their more-affordable device is a modification of something typically used to monitor the sounds of marine mammals and costs hundreds, instead of thousands, of US dollars. By making this technology more affordable, the scientists believe its uses can be extended beyond the military or the offshore oil and gas industries into the realms of biodiversity studies and climate change. This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH. (IEEE) ** SILENT KEY: RICHARD RYBA, WQ3Q, ADVOCATE FOR CANCER RESEARCH, PATIENT ASSISTANCE JIM/ANCHOR: Hams in Pennsylvania and beyond are grieving the loss of a friend who was an advocate for cancer research and cancer patient assistance. We hear about him from Travis Lisk N3ILS. TRAVIS: A little more than a year ago, Richard Ryba, WQ3Q, put out a call to his fellow hams asking for them to join the on-air team for N3P, a special event station to raise awareness and donations for pancreatic cancer research. On Thursday, September 5th, the Skyview Amateur Radio Society issued another call during their 2-metre evening net on Richard's behalf. It was a final call: Richard became a Silent Key on the 31st of August, five years after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the same illness that took the life of his younger brother years earlier. An advocate for supporting research, Richard had been the driving force behind an annual special event station that went on the air throughout the US in conjunction with a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania walk-a-thon to benefit the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. He was well-known for his devotion to radio as a member and former officer of the Skyview Amateur Radio Society and the Breezeshooters Club of Western Pennsylvania. He recently joined the Southwestern Pennsylvania SKYWARN and the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. Richard was known as the designer of the QSL card for K2M, the Pennsylvania colony of the annual 13 Colonies Special Event station, for each of the past four years. He also had a unique way of identifying himself: Because his callsign contained the character combination "Q3Q," he often referred to his QTH as the "shack of quack." Eddie Misiewicz KB3YRU, net control for the Skyview Thursday night net, said: [quote] "His hope and his positive attitude will continue in all of us." [endquote] Richard, who had been licensed since 2013, was 74. This is Travis Lisk, N3ILS. (EDDIE MISIEWICZ, KB3YRU) ** SILENT KEY: PAUL GRAVELINE, K1YUB, AMSAT JOURNAL ASSISTANT EDITOR JIM/ANCHOR: Hams are also mourning the loss of the assistant editor of the AMSAT Journal. We hear more about him from Neil Rapp WB9VPG. NEIL: As both an editor and contributor, Paul Graveline, K1YUB, began his seven-year tenure as an assistant editor for the AMSAT Journal with the publication of the July/August 2017 issue. His deep involvement with AMSAT included being a member of the CubeSatSim Educational Materials Team that is part of AMSAT's educational relations program, using the CubeSat simulator as a learning tool. Paul, who was born in 1947, became a Silent Key on the 19th of August. His ham radio career had its roots in his activities as an enthusiastic shortwave listener starting in 1960. Three years later he became an amateur radio operator with a special interest in CW. His love for short-wave listening was undiminished and with a friend he later assisted in the rejuvenation of the listeners' group known as the Boston Area DXers. Paul wrote about Dr. Tamitha Skov, WX6SWW, for a January/February 2022 cover story in the AMSAT Journal. He was also coordinator for her Super Community Project, which seeks to spread a better understanding of space weather. This is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. (AMSAT NEWS) ** ACMA BEGINS FEE COLLECTION FOR CALLSIGNS WITH 12-MONTH ASSIGNMENT JIM/ANCHOR: Some hams in Australia may have already noticed some new fees associated with their callsigns - John Williams VK4JJW is here to explain them. JOHN: Beginning on the 1st of September, hams in Australia will be paying a new fee of $34 for some special types of callsigns that have a 12-month assignment period. Those receiving a contest callsign will be charged $15. Those transferring a callsign to another amateur will be charged $15. Hams with a VK9 or VKØ callsign representing Australian external territories are the ones who will pay $34. The ACMA will send these callsign holders a reminder to renew after the 12-month period; otherwise, the callsign will be made available for re-allocation on the registry. Meanwhile, hams having two-letter, three-letter and F-series call signs are required to confirm active use of their call every five years but there are no longer any annual fees involved. An explanation of the new fees and policy from the Australian Communications and Media Authority can be seen on their website in the amateur radio callsign policy document. See the link in the text version of this week's Newsline script. This is John Williams VK4JJW. ** ROUTE 66 AND 9/11 SPECIAL EVENTS ON THE AIR JIM/ANCHOR: Two special events are on the air marking very different occasions in US history. The 2024 Route 66 On The Air special event will be active September 7th through to the 15th, celebrating the highway known as the Mother Road. Listen for twenty-three 1x1 callsigns that begin with "W6." From September 8th through to the 12th, hams are marking a more somber moment in history with the K4A Special Event, commemorating the terror attacks on September 11th, 2001. See QRZ.com for details of both events. ** DIGITAL RADIO INTRODUCED FOR NEW ZEALAND EMERGENCY RESPONSE JIM/ANCHOR: New Zealand is taking the first steps in providing digital radio service for its emergency response teams. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF brings us up to date. JIM M: A digital radio service for emergency responders has begun its rollout in New Zealand, putting four of the nation's emergency service agencies on the same network for the first time in history. The transmissions on the new Land Mobile Radio network will be used by police, fire and emergency, Wellington Free Ambulance and Hato Hone St. John Ambulance. The push-to-talk transmissions will be fully encrypted. The rollout of the LMR network will begin in Canterbury, Wellington and Auckland in 2025 and the goal is to ultimately serve 11 regions across New Zealand by 2026. LMR becomes part of the Public Safety Network, joining cellular roaming, which has been in service for the responders since July 2023. The Public Safety Network is spending 10 years and $1.4 billion to bring new devices into play for emergency response. The announcement by Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden did not mention other emergency responders such as LandSAR, the Coast Guard or Civil Defence. According to Next Generation Critical Communications, which is developing New Zealand's Public Safety Network, there is room for other government agencies to come on board later. This is Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF. (NZ NET NEWSLETTER, NEXT GENERATION CRITICAL COMMUNICATIONS) ** FREE ONLINE STUDY GUIDES AVAILABLE FOR US TECH, GENERAL LICENSE JIM/ANCHOR: If you're looking to upgrade your license - or to simply make a start as a Technician - a new online resource has become available, and it's free. We hear the details from Stephen Kinford N8WB. STEPHEN: Hopeful candidates for the US Technician and General amateur radio licenses can now turn to a free, self-paced study guide being made available on the educational platform known as SuperKnova. The courses were developed by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory with the help of a grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications. Both the Technician course and the upgrade to General Class focus heavily on the fundamentals of the electromagnetic spectrum and the basics of radio waves and propagation. The observatory said that this makes the material valuable for those in disciplines outside amateur radio too, such as individuals involved in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math careers. The coursework makes use of license study materials from the ARRL. Jesse Alexander, WB2IFS, the project instructor, said in a press release that [quote] "This is a great opportunity to share amateur radio with a new generation of potential ham radio enthusiasts. We’ve designed this course to introduce learners to the electromagnetic spectrum while developing radio skills and knowledge.†[endquote] This is Stephen Kinford N8WB. (ARDC) ** WORLD OF DX In the World of DX, be listening for Col, MMØNDX and Steve, MMØSAJ using the callsign 3A/MMØNDX and 3A/MMØSAJ from Monaco until the 9th of September. They are focusing on the low bands during their evening hours and on 6 metres QSL both calls via EB7DX and LoTW. Michele [pron: MEE-KELL], IZ8PWN is active holiday style as 8Q7WN from the Maldives, IOTA number AS-013, through to the 13th of September, using SSB and FT8 on 40-10 metres. QSL via I8KHC. Listen for Greg, N9GB will be active holiday style as J3/N9GB from Grenada through to the 10th of September using CW and SSB on 40-10 metres and some operation on 6 metres. See QRZ.com for QSL details. A team of operators using the callsign EJ7NET (namely EI3HA, EI3ISB, EI5KO, EI6FR and EI9JF) will be on the air from the 7th through to the 11th of September from Inis Mor, Aran Islands, IOTA Number EU-006. They will be using CW, SSB and FT8 on the HF bands. QSL direct to EI6FR. (425 DX BULLETIN) ** KICKER: AN ELECTRIFYING DISCOVERY ABOUT BEES JIM/ANCHOR: For our final story, the buzzword is "electricity" - and it really, really, IS the BUZZWORD, as we hear from Jeremy Boot G4NJH. JEREMY: The University of Bristol's Botanic Garden in Stoke Bishop was all abuzz with bees on the 24th and 25th of August as visitors learned about the importance bees have as pollinators and agents of change in the overall environment. It was not so long ago, though, that the university's researchers made a sweet and surprising discovery about something else: They found that swarms of honeybees are capable of generating electrical charges in the atmosphere, ones that rival those of thunderstorm clouds. In fact, the more dense the swarm, the bigger the electrical charge. The scientists recorded currents from swarms passing over a campus field station during 3-minute intervals. They recorded as many as 1,000 volts per metre. The research was published nearly two years ago in the Smithsonian magazine and the journal, iScience. Don't get too excited about applying bee power to any amateur radio operation going portable in the vicinity of an apiary. According to an article in the magazine, Popular Science, 50 billion bees would be needed to provide power to an LED light. That means even the smallest of the small rigs could not even hope to get on the air, operating Q R Bee. FRIDAY EDITION: Pulled the carb off the chainsaw and found the rubber diaphragms are pretty stiff, decided to order a replacement carb on Amazon, only $17.00 and includes sparkplug, tubing, and fuel filter- how the hell they do that is beyond me and free shipping to boot...Plumbing at club needs work, one of the col water shutoff valves is stuck, more investigation is needed in the moldy, spider infested basement today. Ham radio operators to tune in event from Blennerhassett IslandPARKERSBURG — The Parkersburg Amateur Radio Klub will activate a Parks on the Air radio station from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday on Blennerhassett Island.The event will make history and reflect on the history of the club, club officials said. The group will be the first amateur radio club to operate from the island, and ham radio operators will have the opportunity to register a two-way communication and gain awards. “Blennerhassett Amateur Radio Club was the original name of our club back in the 1940s. So, the outing to the island reflects, in part, our own history as the Parkersburg Amateur Radio Klub and ham operators in the Mid-Ohio Valley,” club member Corey Meadows of Williamstown said. “Blennerhassett Island is a unique (Parks on the Air) island. Ham operators can activate the island from the shoreline, providing the station sets up at the island’s museum in downtown Parkersburg,” he said. “We wanted to make some of our own history by actually being on-site.” Meadows shares responsibility of the Parks on the Air activations with a committee. By coincidence, the state of Ohio this weekend will conduct statewide Parks on the Air activations, he said. Parkersburg Amateur Radio Klub will have an opportunity to work for various awards by contacting other Parks on the Air stations, Meadows said. Three ways are available to make progress toward awards with Parks on the Air, Meadows said. Activators, hunters and park-to-park contacts make up the three types of contacts, he said. Operators who put the stations on the air are activators. People who tune around and contact the activated stations are hunters. Activated stations who contact other activated stations, while both are on the air at the same time, are park-to-park. Each activated station, park and its location and identifying number are posted on the internet, which aids all three type stations to have success with contacting the various activations, he said. “Parks on the Air isn’t just about having fun and competing, “ Larry Dale, president of the club, said. “It’s an exercise for international radio operations to promote emergency awareness and preparedness from national/federal and state/provincial-level parks.” The public is invited to view the operations, he said. Information will be available about obtaining a ham radio license, which also is available at the club website W8PAR.org. 2024 Tiny Games Contest: Morse Quest Goes Where You DoDo you know Morse code already? Or are you maybe trying to learn so you can be an old school ham? Either way, you could have a lot of fun with [felix]’s great little entry into the 2024 Tiny Games Contest — Morse Quest. This minimalist text-based adventure game is played entirely in Morse code. That is, the story line, all the clues, and the challenges along the way are presented by a blinking LED. In turn, commands like LOOK, TAKE, and INVENTORY are entered with the slim key on the lower right side. A wee potentiometer allows the player to adjust the blink rate of the LED, so it’s fun for all experience levels. Of course, one could always keep a Morse chart handy. The brains of this operation is an Arduino Nano, and there’s really not much more to the BOM than that. It runs on a 9 V, so theoretically it could be taken anywhere you want to escape reality for a while. Be sure to check out the demo video after the break. Blog – Hackaday Read More THURSDAY EDITION: Chainsaw repair day here, the Homelite XL16 needs the carb to come off and get soaked and blown out over at the shop....switching the 2 meter repeater out later in day, the Kenwood 850 bit the dust and I will replace it with a Yaesu one we have kicking around.....busy day
UNEXPECTED CME IMPACT: A CME hit Earth's magnetic field today, Sept. 4th at 1030 UTC. The unexpected impact jolted the USGS magnetometer in Boulder, CO, by 40 nT, a fairly stout blow. A G1 geomagnetic storm watch is in effect as a result of the CME's arrival. CME impact alerts: SMS Text SOLAR CYCLE 25 CONTINUES TO SURGE: Solar activity continues to intensify. In August 2024, the average monthly sunspot number exceeded 200 for the first time in 23 years, almost doubling the official forecast: The current solar cycle (Solar Cycle 25) wasn't expected to be this strong. When it began in Dec. 2019, experts predicted it would be weak like its immediate predecessor Solar Cycle 24. Instead, Solar Cycle 25 may be on pace to rival some of the stronger cycles of the 20th century. Already in May 2024 we have experienced a century-class geomagnetic storm with auroras sighted in the South Pacific, central America and south Africa. The last time sunspot counts were this high, in Sept.-Dec. 2001, the sun was winding up to launch the Great Halloween Storms of '03, which included the strongest X-ray solar flare ever recorded (X45) and a CME so potent it was felt by Voyager at the edge of the solar system. A repeat is not guaranteed, but current sunspot counts tell us it's possible. WEDNESDAY EDITION: Coffee, donuts, and lots of entertainment this morning at the club from 10-noon ARRL VEC Services Update During Systems DisruptionARRL previously reported that we are responding to a serious incident involving access to our network and headquarters-based systems. Several services have been affected, including those administered by the ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (ARRL VEC). Exam Registrations and Materials. ARRL Volunteer Examiners (VEs) should continue to submit exam registrations and material requests. We are able to post new or revised exam session dates and details to the website, we continue to ship out exam materials. Please remember that most exam materials are available on our website (www.arrl.org/resources-for-ves). Processing Applications to the FCC. We are processing Amateur Radio License applications to the FCC. This includes applications for new and upgrade licenses, individual applications, and club license applications. The VEC exam session upload webpage was not affected by the incident. The VE session counts webpage data entry programming has been unavailable since May 12th. It will be updated with new data as soon as we are able. VE Accreditations, International Radio Permits and License Class Certificates. We are unable to create Volunteer Examiner (VE) badges, certificates, and stickers. New ARRL VE applications and renewals are unable to be processed at this time. International Amateur Radio Permits and License Class Certificates are being created and shipped. 2024 – 2028 Extra Class Exam Booklets. A previous version of this story indicated that the ARRL VEC will supply its officially appointed, field-stocked VE team leaders with the new Extra-class exam booklet designs around mid-June. Due to ARRL’s recent system disruption, the shipment was delayed. The exam booklets were shipped out July 8 and should be have been delivered before August 1. VE Teams may contact the ARRL VEC to receive instructions on how to print new Extra exams in the interim. The newly revised pool must be used for Extra-class license exams starting July 1, 2024. Exam designs based off the previous pool are no longer valid. The outdated versions of the Extra exams should be destroyed or thrown away to avoid a mix-up at the testing session. ARRL Youth Licensing Grant Program | FCC Application Fee Reimbursement Information. ARRL is continuing to accept reimbursement forms to cover the one-time $35 application fee for new license candidates younger than 18-years of age for tests administered under the auspices of the ARRL VEC. Reimbursement checks may take longer than normal to be processed at this time. We appreciate your patience as ARRL continues to work on restoring access to affected systems and services. Ham radio operators propose use of wireless radio sets
Kolkata: The organisation of ham radio operators in Bengal has written to the principal secretary of Health department recommending the use of radio wireless sets in shadow zones of state hospitals. The West Bengal Radio Club, in its letter, claimed that in a number of hospitals, the mobile network does not function properly, making it difficult to reach out to others through mobile calls. “The use of radio wireless sets will ensure communication even from such shadow zones. There will be a panic button in the wireless set which when pressed will alert the hospital’s control room and the nearest police station. So, if a woman is in distress, she can just press the panic button and immediate interventions can be made,” said Ambarish Nag Biswas of West Bengal Radio Club (WBRC). Also Read - Bengal minister appears for ED questioning in school jobs scam The recommendation of use of such wireless sets assume significance in the backdrop of the recent rape and murder of a female post graduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. WBRC has been working in close coordination with the state government, assisting it to establish communication in case of natural disasters that often snaps normal communication systems. During elections, the WBRC has been instrumental in providing seamless communication through ham radio stations in shadow zones in remote areas of Sunderbans. Radio wireless sets that emit signals within a range of 2 km are available in the market. “We can also extend assistance in training or mock drills,” Nag Biswas added. “We have received the letter and are examining the proposal,” said a Health department official.
TUESDAY EDITION: A cool start to a beautiful day...after I finish stacking the last of the biobicks into the basement I have to complete the bathroom at the radio club. Estate Planning for Hams (What happens to all your stuff?)August is National Make-a-Will month. Some estimates show that nearly two-thirds of Americans don't have a plan. For some, it's procrastination. Others don't know where to start. “So many times we hear from the family of a Silent Key who are overwhelmed with what to do with a lifetime worth of amateur radio gear,” said ARRL Director of Development Kevin Beal, K8EAL. “Simply thinking through what needs to be done ahead of time can prevent the stress on our loved ones after we are gone.” ARRL this week held a webinar, hosted by Beal and Dino Papas, KLØS, to discuss the first steps of planning. “It is something that, unfortunately, doesn’t get a lot of attention. The bottom-line up front is, ‘what happens to all our beloved ham gear when that inevitable day comes along that we become a Silent Key?’... Unfortunately, that day may arrive unexpectedly – so we need to prepare ahead of time to make it as simple as possible for our families,” said Papas. On the ARRLHQ YouTube channel, you can see a replay of the 52-minute presentation, along with the question-and-answer section at the end. “Your station is an asset, just like anything else you’ve built and put resources into. Deciding now what happens when you become a Silent Key can help solidify your legacy to ham radio,” said Beal. The ARRL Legacy Circle recognizes the generosity of individuals who have planned support for ARRL through wills, trusts, life insurance gifts, and other ways. The ARRL Legacy Circle ensures that ARRL and amateur radio will continue to thrive for generations to come. New 2 GB Raspberry Pi 5 Has Smaller Die and 30% Lower Idle Power UsageRecently Raspberry Pi released the 2GB version of the Raspberry Pi 5 with a new BCM2712 SoC featuring the D0 stepping. As expected, [Jeff Geerling] got his mitts on one of these boards and ran it through its paces, with positive results. Well, mostly positive results — as the Geekbench test took offence to the mere 2 GB of RAM on the board and consistently ran out of memory by the multi-core Photo Filter test, as feared when we originally reported on this new SBC. Although using swap is an option, this would not have made for a very realistic SoC benchmark, ergo [Jeff] resorted to using sysbench instead. Naturally some overclocking was also performed, to truly push the SoC to its limits. This boosted the clock speed from 2.4 GHz all the way up to 3.5 GHz with the sysbench score increasing from 4155 to 6068. At 3.6 GHz the system wouldn’t boot any more, but [Jeff] figured that delidding the SoC could enable even faster speeds. This procedure also enabled taking a look at the bare D0 stepping die, revealing it to be 32.5% smaller than the previous C1 stepping on presumably the same 16 nm process. Although 3.5 GHz turns out to be a hard limit for now, the power usage was interesting with idle power being 0.9 watts lower (at 2.4 W) for the D0 stepping and the power and temperatures under load also looked better than the C1 stepping. Even when taking the power savings of half the RAM versus the 4 GB version into account, the D0 stepping seems significantly more optimized. The main question now is when we can expect to see it appear on the 4 and 8 GB versions of the SBC, though the answer there is likely ‘when current C1 stocks run out’. Authorities in Jefferson County learn backup communication methodJEFFERSON COUNTY, Ill. -- The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office has begun training in a new form of communication. The team posted a picture on Facebook of its members at its first ever Amateur Radio Training class. Members in the training learning the rules and regulations, along with other necessary information to become Amateur Radio Operators. "We are striving to learn alternative communication means in case the current infrastructure ever goes down," the sheriff's office stated over the weekend. Jefferson County communicators were joined by members of the Mt. Vernon Police Department's Communications Division. LABOR DAY WEEKEND EDITION: A murky start today, a little muggy here on the island. .... ARRL Club Grants Will Be Awarded in NovemberApplications for the 2024 ARRL Club Grants program are now being reviewed (the application period closed July 26, 2024). ARRL Field Services Manager Mike Walters, W8ZY, said 110 grant applications have been received and the awards will be announced in late November. “Grants are available up to $25,000 and emphasis is given to projects that are transformative in nature,” said Walters. Examples of projects include but are not limited to getting on the air projects, ham training and skills development through mentoring, STEM and STEAM learning through amateur radio, station resources for use by the ham community, and emergency communications and public service projects that emphasize training. “Since 2022, $500,000 has been distributed to amateur radio clubs,” said Walters. “With this year’s awards, that total will increase to $1,000,000 awarded. The ARRL Club Grants are administered by The ARRL Foundation. Resilience Through Amateur Radio for National Preparedness MonthAmateur radio is an excellent tool for community resilience in times of crisis. The utility value of the critical communications it provides is enhanced by having well trained local Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) groups and other teams. However, to maximize the value to yourself, your family, and your community; an operator must be prepared. September is National Preparedness Month. …American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources – Read More
Amateur Radio Newsline Report
ARRL DISCLOSES IT MADE $1-MILLION PAYMENT TO HACKERS PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story takes us to Newington, Connecticut where the ARRL now acknowledges that it resolved last spring's cyberhacking incident by paying a hefty ransom. Kent Peterson KCØDGY brings us more details. KENT: The ARRL has disclosed that it agreed to a $1-million ransom payment to the hackers who disrupted its computers and servers on May 15th, stealing data and taking many of its services down. Writing on its webpage the league described the attack as [quote] "an act of organized crime," characterizing the initial demand payout as "exorbitant," in exchange for access to decryption tools. The ARRL said that the final amount was agreed upon only after extensive negotiation and that the sum - and the price tag for restoring the systems - is being covered by insurance. The ARRL said that although the hackers did not get any sensitive information from its members, it confirmed in July that the ransomware did access personal data of an estimated 150 employees who have since been provided with free identity-protection services. In July, the ARRL board created its Information Technology Advisory Committee. Members are being drawn from IT industry professionals as well as those on the league staff and board who have experience in the field. This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY. (ARRL) ** YOTA CAMP BLOG RECOUNTS CZECH REPUBLIC ADVENTURE PAUL/ANCHOR: As the summer wraps up in the Northern Hemisphere, so too does the Youngsters on the Air camp that took place in the Czech Republic. Jeremy Boot G4NJH has that story. JEREMY; Campers finished their week of immersion in amateur radio and friendship at the Youngsters on the Air camp on Friday the 23rd of August. Now all that's left is to remember the experience and to share it. Rhys Williams, MØWGY/AJ6XD, who represented the Radio Society of Great Britain at the camp, wrote a daily blog that recounts such daily activities as kit-building, balloon launching and operation of the special callsign OL24YOTA. If you weren't one of the campers, you can read the blog and experience that memorable week vicariously in words and pictures. Visit the link in the text version of this week's Newsline script. The camp was organised by the Czech Radio Club and the Youth Working Group of IARU Region 1. This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH. [DO NOT READ: https://rsgb.org/main/about-us/yota/yota-summer-camps/yota-czechia-2024/updates-from-yota-czechia-2024/ ] (RSGB) ** HAMS REUNITE MAN, "DEAD" FOR A DECADE, WITH FAMILY PAUL/ANCHOR: In India, a missing man's family believed they'd never see him again until - one decade later - hams helped bring him home. We have those details from Jason Daniels VK2LAW. JASON: The headlines in local Indian media called the man "dead for a decade" but the former mathematics teacher, said to affected by mental illness, has been returned home to his father and other family members with the help of a network of amateur radio operators. Reports in The Times of India and the Deccan Herald said that area residents near the border of India and Bangladesh noticed a man standing by a large patch of wet soil, writing and solving mathematical problems there with a large stick. They told the newspapers that he seemed otherwise disoriented, which stirred their concern. The police were contacted and, wanting to expand the search for family beyond the immediate area, authorities reached out to the West Bengal Radio Club, which is known for its success in missing-persons cases because of its connections among radio operators in India. Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA, the secretary of the radio club, told Newsline in a text message that he and club member Parimal Roy, VU3ZIM, were able to circulate photos of the man to clubs in the region. Ultimately, authorities were contacted by the man's father. According to the newspaper accounts, the man, who is now in his 40s, apparently developed mental problems more than a decade ago and disappeared, leaving his family to believe they would not see him alive again. This is Jason Daniels VK2LAW. (TIMES OF INDIA, DECCAN HERALD, AMBARISH NAG BISWAS, VU2JFA) ** SILENT KEY: PATRICIA NELSON, KEØQXD, TRAINER, VOLUNTEER, RADIO HOST PAUL/ANCHOR: During a moment of silence at the most recent board meeting of the ARRL, attendees paused to remember several Silent Keys from this year. One of them left her mark nationally as a tireless volunteer and radio enthusiast. We hear about her from Kent Peterson KCØDGY. KENT: This past winter, Amateur Radio Digital Communications announced that Pat Nelson, KEØQXD, had recently joined their Conduct Review Committee. Familiar with her tireless spirit, they were looking forward to working with her. That partnership never happened. Pat died suddenly a few days later on January 29th. The contributions she could have made would have been the latest in an amateur radio tenure marked by creativity and a capacity for giving and volunteering. In Minneapolis and St. Paul, Pat had a long association with KFAI radio, a community broadcast station as a host and volunteer. A certified specialist in IT, she also assisted with programming and ran a company, NelsonWorks LLC, which provided computer training and support. When she joined the station, she became friends with Mike Stapp KEØWW, a longtime ham who introduced her to amateur radio. For Pat, that marked yet another beginning: She became licensed in 2018 and her commitment grew over the years. In 2022 she produced and hosted a special program on KFAI in honor of International Women's Day, focusing on women active in amateur radio. Pat also became a Volunteer Examiner at the Aurora Amateur Radio Group and served on its VE advisory board. She was a lifetime member of the OMIK Amateur Radio Association, an international group founded in 1952 by Black radio amateurs and she had previously served the association as secretary. In January 2023, Pat became the first guest speaker at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Ham Radio Project in Virginia, led by Jesse Alexander WB2IFS. Supported by the ARDC, the project familiarizes students with amateur radio and the electromagnetic spectrum. Pat was 68. This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY. (JESSE ALEXANDER, WB2IFS; ARRL, ARDC) ** ARES TO ADOPT INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM INTO TRAINING PAUL/ANCHOR: Things have changed since the early years when ham radio operators stepped up to offer their communication skills during emergencies. The ARRL's Amateur Radio Emergency Service, which began in 1935, is in the midst of bringing some of its protocol up to date, as we hear from Randy Sly W4XJ. RANDY: The Amateur Radio Emergency Service, or ARES, is being brought into alignment with many of the agencies it serves by adopting the National Incident Management System's Incident Command system. This is an initiative of the ARRL to update the training of ARES members to better meet the needs of its partners. A statement by the ARRL reads, “This is a first step towards our long-term goal of being recognized by our served partner agencies as the “gold standard†of volunteer communications support based upon ARES members’ unique expertise and capabilities. The training has several levels and specialization areas to provide amateurs with a consistent track to advance their skills as well as their understanding of emergency communications practices. The Incident Command system is used throughout government, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector to manage efficient deployment of assistance and cooperation at incidents such as severe weather or natural disasters. ** SPOTLIGHT ON MISSISSIPPI EMERGENCY COMMUNICATOR PAUL/ANCHOR: At a recent meeting of council members in one Mississippi municipality, a seasoned emergency communicator was honored with a few moments in the spotlight We hear about him from Don Wilbanks AE5DW. DON: Tom Kelly, AB6Z, of the Pearl River Emergency Amateur Radio League in Mississippi, was recognized at the top of the Picayune city council agenda for his contribution to emergency services in the county. The retired Homeland Security professional, who has more than four decades in law enforcement, deploys communication assistance when it is needed by the fire and police chiefs. Tom described the league's plans and goals and explained the kind of training involved for league members, who learn to dispatch and manage radio operators, deliver messages via radio and read radar screens. Tom said the league is hoping to assist even more members in qualifying for their amateur radio licenses. In Picayune Mississippi, this is Don Wilbanks AE5DW. (THE PICAYUNE ITEM) ** CHILDREN'S MUSEUM PROVIDES A SPECTRUM OF EXPERIENCE PAUL/ANCHOR: You may not think of the electromagnetic spectrum as a museum exhibit, but one amateur radio club in Indiana put it on display - and showed it in action - at the Terre Haute Children's Museum recently. Andy Morrison K9AWM tells us how it happened. ANDY: Laurel Tincher, program manager of the Terre Haute Children's Museum, called QRZ, in a manner of speaking and the Wabash Valley Amateur Radio Association answered that call. She invited the club to present a day of ham-related activities to showcase the kinds of things amateur radio can do. According to club president Kevin Berlen, K9HX, 100 or so visitors on Saturday the 24th of August got that opportunity. They participated in a radio-related scavenger hunt and enjoyed activities that taught them a little more about Morse Code. As the hams made QSOs on SSB using a remote-controlled HF station, the youngsters got a better understanding of what HF propagation can do. The visitors didn't just take away a better understanding of amateur radio - one lucky youngster won the random drawing for a small STEM robotics kit. According to Kevin, quite a few of them expressed an interest in working toward getting their license. This is Andy Morrison K9AWM. (KEVIN BERLEN, K9HX) ** TRANSISTOR PROMISES FASTER, MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT OPERATION PAUL/ANCHOR: A new type of transistor is in the works inside a US campus laboratory. It is resilient and super-fast but, for now, it is still a work in progress, as we hear from Sel Embee KB3TZD. SEL: A new transistor in development inside a Massachusetts laboratory is said to be extremely tough and resilient and offer super-fast switching, while meeting - or even exceeding - industry standards. Researchers at MIT first announced the transistor's development in 2021 when they published the results of their study which explored the use of an ultra-thin ferroelectric material made from boron nitride. At that time the report was carried in the journal, Science, researchers wrote only of the possibilities. Now it is a reality. Working inside the laboratory, the scientists created that faster, more energy-efficient transistor and they claim that even after 100 billion switches, there are no signs of degradation. Researchers told Popular Mechanics magazine that, for electronic devices such as computers, this eliminates the need for selective storage on a chip. Scientists also say that boron nitride has another advantage: it remains stable over long periods of time because its polarization can be reversed when there is an electric field. The next reality - actually manufacturing it - could be a lot tougher. Scientists acknowledged that despite the great gains in this development, they still don't have a way to mass produce it. This is Sel Embee KB3TZD. (POPULAR MECHANICS, MIT NEWS) ** WORLD OF DX In the World of DX, there are two opportunities to get the South Cook Islands in your log. Listen for Bob, ZL1RS, calling QRZ as E51EME from Rarotonga, IOTA Number OC-013, from the 23rd of August through to the 15th of September. His operation is mainly 6-metre FT8 using ionospheric propagation. He will also operate 6-metre EME using the Q65-60A mode from WSJT-X. See QRZ.com for QSL details. You can also listen for Tom, N2WLG who will be on the air with the callsign E51WLG from Rarotonga, IOTA Number OC-013 from the 1st through to the 8th of September. He will operate CW and digital modes on 40-10 metres. See QRZ.com for QSL details Listen for Giuseppe, IK5WWA, calling QRZ as IMØC [EYE EMM ZERO SEE] from San Pietro Island, IOTA Number EU-165 from the 1st through to the 15th of September 40-2 metres. QSL via his home call. Harald DF2WO will be back in Burkina Faso operating holiday style as XT2AW starting September 8th for about 14 days. Listen on 10-80 metres SSB and FT4. He will also be using the QO100 satellite. See QRZ.com for QSL details. Listen for the callsign TM4ØIPC from the 28th through to the 8th of September during the Paris Paralympic Games. The callsign is being operated by members of the RadioPole Associatif REF-40, F4KLM. QSL via F6DZU and LoTW. (425 DX NEWS) ** KICKER: NEW POTA SITE REALLY FLOATS THEIR BOAT PAUL/ANCHOR: Late last year, Parks on the Air, or POTA, added more parks in the US. In Indiana, this meant that suddenly a yellow dot appeared on the map just off of the shore of Porter Beach in the Indiana Dunes State Park. While initially this looked like a mistake, it turned out to be the JD Marshall Nature Preserve, US-10256, the site of a Great Lakes cargo ship which sunk in 1911. The park is completely underwater -- accessible only by boat. Nothing excites a POTA activator more than seeing a zero in the “number of activations†field on the website. That’s when Eric Kurtz, KE9AEB, chief of the Ogden Dunes Volunteer Fire Department, started calling his friends. Kurtz told Newsline: [quote] “I ended up creating a POTA account and realized that the JD Marshall was the only park in the State Of Indiana that had never been activated. Being a lakefront community, and being involved with the volunteer fire department, we’re fortunate that some of our members are boat owners and some of our members are amateur radio licensees and I put those pieces together so we could activate the JD Marshall.†[endquote] So assistant Fire Chief Dave Zak, a marina and boat owner, took six hams and their gear out onto Lake Michigan on Saturday, August 24th and moored above the wreck. I was one of those hams. The hams got right to it and in the space of a little under three hours, had logged 118 contacts including France. Active calls included K9ODF, the fire department club call, as well as the personal calls N9ITB and WD9GCO. Chris Lattimer, N9MMR, member of the fire department and founding member of the club, called it an amazing opportunity to be out on Lake Michigan operating an HF station from a boat. His son Tavas, KD9NSC, communications officer for the fire department, assembled the gear, tested everything beforehand and handled contact logging. Two others on board were Tommy Stecic, KE2CCX and Jack Albert, N9ITB, an experienced activator and my POTA buddy. The group was awarded credit for the first activation of the park. And their very first contact? Well, it was a ham from New York with the call KD2GUT. That’s right. Our own Caryn Eve Murray. Congratulations to all involved for an activation that went beyond expectations. Amateur radio is a varied hobby and as we often say "whatever floats your boat" is fine. HAMS YOU MIGHT KNOW
K1TP-
Jon....Editor of As The World
Turns....
SILENT KEYS Silet Key
KA1BXB-Don...Regular
on 3900 mornings....just
don't
mention
politics
to
him,
please! |